


Slow Dancing

by kythen



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternating Perspectives, Banter, Hybrids, M/M, Smut, accidental and intentional stepping on feet, getting frisky in the garden, lots of flirting, lots of pining, masquerades, petty political plots, will he stay or will he go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-10-22 03:23:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10688772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kythen/pseuds/kythen
Summary: A hybrid and masquerade AU. Courtship, like dancing, is best done slowly.Lord Oikawa of Aobajousai is hosting a masquerade ball and all are invited to partake in three nights of masks, finery, and of course, dancing. Kuroo Tetsurou of Nekoma finds himself enraptured by a crow he chances upon while looking out for his young lordling. On the other hand, Sawamura Daichi of Karasuno is drawn in by a cat who seems intent on flirting with him. Welcome to the masquerade, where everyone is everything and nothing they seem to be.





	1. First Night

"We, um, lost Kenma," Inuoka reports, his ears flat against his head and his tail switching nervously. Beside him, Lev displays none of the same nervousness Inuoka has, standing tall and earnest, despite doing what Kuroo had explicitly told them _not_ to do and lose Kenma.

Kuroo sighs, putting down the reports he had been reading and smoothing them out against the surface of the table. "I'll go look for him. One of you wait by Kenma's room in case he returns and another of you go and tell the others to search for Kenma."

Inuoka and Lev nod in unison and barrel back out of the door. Kuroo follows them out, locking his door behind him before he sets out in search of Kenma.

They have only been in the Aobajousai castle for a day but Kenma has already managed to disappear on them twice. They found him the first time after one of the Aobajousai folk tipped them off and Kuroo had told the rest of Nekoma to keep an eye on Kenma so that he didn't disappear again before the ball. Even so, Kuroo has had a bad feeling about this and it turns out that he was right. He should have watched Kenma himself instead of trying to catch up on paperwork while away from home.

Kuroo checks the lower levels first, where they had found Kenma the first time, scouring the dark and quiet corners for a familiar splotched head of blond and black. It is unlikely that Kenma would be outside the castle, even with the weather being as fine as it is, and it is just as unlikely that Kenma would have been taken by force. As far as Kuroo knows, everyone gathered here in the castle was friendly, or under truce, and kidnapping the heir to another fief would only bring the wrath of everyone else down on them. No, it is more likely that Kenma had run away to avoid attending tonight's ball—not that Kuroo would let him.

The Aobajousai castle is absurdly huge and Kuroo sticks to the south wing once he sees the rest of Nekoma fan out all over the castle. It is an old and inherited property, passed down through ancient lines of tradition to Oikawa, who took it upon himself to improve the castle once it had come into his hands. In addition to its sprawling inner quarters and outer courtyards, there were now false doors that led to nowhere and windows that opened up into outdoor walkways, all constructed haphazardly into its original structure. While maddeningly frustrating, it was a clever move on Oikawa's part to deter would-be intruders and assassins, which he had in spades. And seeing the number of social functions Oikawa liked to hold, Kuroo wouldn't put it past him to have done it for the sake of messing around with his guests.

The castle tries Kuroo's patience as he searches it, looking into every nook and cranny that Kenma could possibly fit himself into. He climbs a spiral staircase in a narrow tower only to find himself at a dead end, seemingly one of Oikawa's frustrating designs. Kuroo stops on the top step and looks carefully around him. Light spills through a lone window behind him, starting to fade as evening draws near. But it is still bright enough for him, barely, to make out a low door to his side, built at an odd angle to the steps. Kuroo stoops and tugs at its handle and it opens for him easily, leading out into the ramparts.

This high up, the wind is strong and Kuroo's hair whips against his face, obviously ruined for appearing at social functions anytime soon. He can fix it later but now and more importantly, he has to bring Kenma back with him. Kuroo isn't alone on the ramparts and he sees Kenma crouched against the parapets, hiding from the wind. There is another boy beside him, who has bright orange hair and a pair of large, black wings, which marks him out as someone from Karasuno.

Kuroo stops before the both of them and Kenma looks up at him, irritation creasing his brows.

"Hello!" says the Karasuno boy, balking slightly when he catches sight of Kuroo's face.

Kuroo smiles and it does nothing to settle the Karasuno boy down. If anything, it makes him more nervous and Kenma has started to scowl at him.

"Kuroo," Kenma says as he stands. The Karasuno boy follows suit and the wind catches on his wings, almost knocking him off balance.

"We've got to go," Kuroo says. "The ball will be starting soon and you can meet your new friend there."

"Kuroo, you know how I feel about this," Kenma mutters.

"I do, but duty is duty."

Kenma looks mutinous but he steps away from the parapets, looking back at the Karasuno boy as he says, "I'll see you later, Shouyou."

The Karasuno boy waves back at him, spreading his wings, and Kuroo hears the beating of wings against the wind as he returns to the tower with Kenma in tow.

"Secret tryst?" Kuroo looks over at Kenma as they head back down the stairs.

"We just met."

"Interesting place for a first meeting."

"He was flying. He stopped on the ramparts because the wind was too strong."

"Will he be okay out there? He's pretty small."

"He'll be fine."

Kuroo glances over at Kenma again, caught off guard by the certainty in his voice. "Oh my. You sure it wasn't a tryst?"

"It was not."

"Sure." Kuroo smirks and Kenma doesn't bother looking his way.

Kuroo takes Kenma back down into the depths of the castle, which are still swarming with frantic Nekoma folk. Kuroo grabs a frazzled Shibayama on his way past them and tells him to call off the search, which Shibayama receives with obvious relief.

"It should be you in my place, Kuroo," Kenma says quietly as Shibayama scurries off to relay Kuroo's orders.

Kuroo knows how much Kenma hates this, but duty is duty, and birthrights are birthrights. Even if Kenma and his bloodlines were crossed, that would not entitle him to anything that Kenma was born into. Kuroo was fortunate enough to be taken in and brought this far, and he is content with where he is now in Nekoma, right by Kenma's side and just out of the spotlight.

"Don't underestimate yourself, Kenma. The people of Nekoma adore you."

"That's all your doing. Yours and Yaku's and Kai's. I haven't done anything."

"Oh yes, like the relocation plan after the south district caught fire wasn't your idea. Or opening the castle's stores during the food shortage of last winter."

"Those weren't perfect solutions. You were the one who worked them out with the rest and carried them out."

They reach Kenma's room and Lev brightens up when he sees them, straightening up from where he had been crouching on the floor. Kuroo shoos him off and rests a hand on the door handle. "Look, Kenma, I'm not going to argue with you about this again. You know why. But we have a ball to attend in less than an hour and if you don't show up Oikawa is going to want to know why."

The look on Kenma's face says it all and Kuroo chuckles, pushing the door open and ushering Kenma in.

"No running off again or I'll send Oikawa after you next time."

"You wouldn't."

"I _would_. It's his castle after all."

\---

"Welcome, one and all, to the world-famous Aobajousai masquerade balls!" Oikawa proclaims from the top of the stairs, preening as he draws the attention of everyone in the ballroom.

"Show off," Kuroo mutters under his breath as Oikawa descends the stairs with a flair only someone of his caliber could muster. He is blooming, vines stretching along his arms and curling along his sides, roses bursting open in his chestnut hair like natural adornments. Unlike Kenma, the Lord of Aobajousai loves parties, which is why they were all gathered here from across the kingdom for three nights of festivities.

This time, Oikawa had decided on a masquerade theme, making it mandatory for everyone attending to show up in a mask. The first night was for the different fiefs to acquaint themselves with each other and everyone was decked out in formal wear in their fief colours, distinctive animal or plant features displayed proudly. Costumes were a must for the second night, by Oikawa's decree, and free dress was for the third night. While masks were to be worn for all three nights, the different, fief-unique features were useful in identifying where someone came from.

Those with cat ears and tails like Kuroo had come with him from Nekoma while those with plants dancing along their skin were in their home territory of Aobajousai. Across the ballroom, Kuroo sees the eagle-winged folk of Shiratorizawa, whom Oikawa had probably been forced to invite for the sake of good relations, and the owl-winged folk of Fukurodani. The snake folk were from Nohebi, the monkey folk from Jouzenji, and the bear folk from Date, all scattered around the ballroom along with others sporting their own distinctive features.

Kuroo's eyes fall on another group of winged folk, their wings a solemn, solid black in contrast to the eagles and owls. There is a head of orange mixed in amongst them and Kuroo steps forward to nudge Kenma in the back.

"There's your crow-winged friend," Kuroo murmurs in his ear. "Looks like he made it down safely. Wanna go say hi?"

"Later," Kenma mumbles, keeping his eyes down. But the tip of his tail twitches, betraying his interest, and Kuroo smiles indulgently.

"Looks like Oikawa's big introductory speech is over," Kuroo remarks as polite applause fills the ballroom. Oikawa is on the ground level now, conversing easily with his guests, and the different groups of folk have started to disperse, filling the ballroom with a mix of colour. "We could go for the food first. Unless you want to dance?" Kuroo teases.

An elbow flies into Kuroo's side and Kuroo coughs, turning watering eyes onto Yaku, who had come up beside him while he wasn't paying attention. "Stop bullying Kenma. He's nervous enough as it is."

"Hey, if you haven't noticed, I'm trying to help him relax," Kuroo protests, holding a hand to his wounded side.

"By winding him up even more?" Yaku scoffs. "Kuroo, provocation isn't the cure for everything."

"Neither is violence," Kuroo retorts.

"Kenma's gone," Kai observes calmly, breaking up the argument between the both of them with practised ease.

Kuroo whips back around and Kai is right—Kenma isn't there. His tail lashes out crossly behind him, angry at him for not keeping an eye on Kenma.

"He's fine," Kai assures him, directing him to look across the ballroom at where Kenma has made contact with a familiar orange-haired crow.

"He's talking to a stranger," Yaku says, his voice filled with wonder. "He never does that. Usually we'd have to drag him out from the corners of the ballroom."

"They grow up so fast," Kuroo says with emotion.

"It _is_ his duty, even if he doesn't like it," Yaku points out. "Someday, he'll be the Lord of Nekoma and he'll have to do whatever Oikawa is doing—or at least, the basics of what he's doing. You can't coddle him forever, Kuroo."

"I do not," Kuroo says and both Yaku and Kai look at him disbelievingly. "Not that much?"

"Go and have fun, Kuroo," Kai says sympathetically, patting him on the shoulder. "Kenma will be fine."

"Go get laid for all we care," Yaku says, less sympathetically. "After all, that's the purpose of these parties, isn't it?"

"Wow, Yakkun, is that concern for my love life that you're showing?" Kuroo raises an eyebrow at him.

"What love life?" Yaku snorts before turning away and disappearing into the crowd.

"Kai, I may never recover," Kuroo mutters, staggering against him. "Has it really been that long since I last slept with someone?"

"Unless you count the reports you've been taking to bed as of late, yes." Kai pats him on the shoulder again and props him up on his own two feet before he follows in Yaku's footsteps.

"I feel unjustly insulted," Kuroo mutters to himself. "I've been busy."

He had been busy, sorting out an influx of reports in Nekoma once the older advisors started retiring one by one. Like the elderly cats they were, they did as they liked, letting their work spill down to the younger generation without much warning. Officially, Kuroo didn't have a place in the advising council yet, but unofficially, he was pretty much the one holding it all together with the help of Yaku and Kai and Kenma, along with the inner circle of cats he had urgently recruited.

But as Yaku and Kai had said, since he was here, and technically free of all responsibility by virtue of being free from the Nekoma castle, maybe he should leave all the paperwork aside for now. Let Nekomata and the other surviving advisors back in Nekoma handle it all for a while. He is going to have fun and let loose—while still keeping an eye on Kenma.

Kuroo slinks towards the food table, watching the middle of the ballroom fill up with all manner of folk, teeth and claws and wings and tails meshing together in dance. Kenma is still with the Karasuno boy, the both of them keeping to the side of the ballroom as per Kenma's usual habits. He'll be fine, Kuroo assures himself as he tears his eyes away from them and turns his attention fiercely onto the food spread out on the table.

"Oh, do you want that?" A hand retreats from the platter directly before him and Kuroo glances across the table.

He sees black crow wings and a man smiles at him apologetically, holding a full plate in his hands. Like everyone else in the ballroom, he wears a mask, velvet black and simple, which obscures the top part of his face.

"Oh, no." Kuroo gestures to the last piece of something on the platter. "Feel free."

"Are you sure?" the crow says. "I have to admit, I've probably tried each of everything and it looks like you've just arrived to the food table."

"I'm not that hungry," Kuroo insists. "Go ahead."

"You know," a drawling voice interrupts the both of them, "we do replenish empty platters here at Aobajousai, polite gentlemen." Kuroo and the crow startle as a man with pale pink hair saunters towards them with a slow-growing grin on his face. He taps the edge of the table and says, "One of you take it already so we can replace the platter."

Less than a minute later, Kuroo finds himself slinking away from the food table, a frantically filled plate in his hands and the crow right next to him, muted embarrassment hanging in the air between them.

"It looks like you're particularly hungry," Kuroo clears his throat, breaking the awkward silence. He eyes the mound of food balanced on the crow's plate pointedly.

"Not particularly," the crow replies shortly.

"Big eater?" Kuroo raises an eyebrow, dropping his gaze to the crow's body.

He doesn't look especially big-sized, even though he has a solid waist and firm legs framed by the clean-cut black of his clothes. He is about a hands-width shorter than Kuroo but he carries himself well, his shoulders squared and his posture straight, making up for the height difference between them with impressive presence. Even though Kuroo can't make out his whole face under his mask, he gets the sense that his newfound crow companion is attractive in spite of his deceptively plain first appearance.

"It's normal," the crow insists, trying to sound nonchalant even as his steps quicken, betraying his annoyance over Kuroo and his questions about his food choices.

Kuroo grins, widening his strides to keep up with the crow. "You mean all crow folk eat this much?"

"It's a long way to go between Karasuno and Aobajousai," the crow says defensively. "Anyone would be hungry after travelling that distance."

"You're right," Kuroo agrees with him amiably.

The crow shoots him a suspicious look like he had expected Kuroo to keep at it and Kuroo smiles back at him winningly. He is about to ask the crow if he can join him at his table when a flash of blond and orange catches his eye and his attention trails off to the side. He is close to the pillar that Kenma and the crow boy from Karasuno have sought refuge at and his footsteps slow, caught between wanting to stop to check on Kenma and wanting to follow the crow to his table.

Kenma catches his eye before he makes a full stop and Kuroo thinks it would be a good idea to keep walking when the crow boy catches sight of him.

"Hi again!" the crow boy chirps, recognising him even with his mask on. The crow boy's mask dwarfs his face, black and orange in his fief colours, and he adjusts it when it slips down over his nose.

Kuroo raises his shoulders in a slight shrug to Kenma, grinning as he stops before the both of them. "Hey there. I didn't get your name the previous time."

"I'm Hinata Shouyou!" the crow boy says.

Kuroo doesn't recognise that name and he mentally files it away for later reference. He isn't too familiar with the crow folk from Karasuno, seeing that he has never had any reason to cross paths with them.

"Have you and Kenma tried the food?" Kuroo asks him, holding up his plate.

"I did but, uh..." Hinata glances at Kenma.

"We can go to the food table now," Kenma interjects. "Seems like it's less crowded now."

Kuroo twitches at the less than obvious jibe at him and he waves his tail at the both of them as they head away from him. Maybe Yaku and Kai were right and he was hovering too much. Kuroo has been antsy ever since the Lord of Nekoma started talking about retirement and Kenma started his own series of small rebellions so that the position of lord would be put as far away from him as possible. Kuroo would tell him that it didn't work, seeing that he was the only one eligible for that particular position by blood, legal blood, but he doesn't want to give Kenma even more ideas.

"Okay, no. Party time," Kuroo whispers to himself, reminding himself of where he is as he puts Nekoma politics out of his mind and looks around for his crow companion. "Dance, flirt madly, hopefully get laid..."

The crow is gone and Kuroo droops. Obviously, he wouldn't wait around for Kuroo.

There are so many other people Kuroo could approach in this ballroom other than the crow, each more exotic than the next, but the crow had been intriguing in his own way, with so much of him yet to be known under his mask, and Kuroo is nothing if not determined.

\---

"Mind if I join you?" Kuroo grins down at his crow after finally locating him at an out-of-the-way table with a decent view of the dance floor.

"Go ahead." If the crow was startled he keeps it out of his voice and body language well as he gestures at a chair across him.

"Nice view you've got here," Kuroo remarks as he wolves down a sandwich and something that looks like a bird wing. Chicken, maybe.

There is an empty plate on the table before the crow and he looks sated, his posture more relaxed than it had been around Kuroo previously. "Just trying to make sure that nobody from Karasuno wreaks havoc here. Oikawa would have a field day."

"He would forgive you magnanimously, and you would owe him for half your lifetime."

The crow chuckles. "Sounds like someone has experience dealing with the Lord of Aobajousai."

"Don't we all. He practically rules this kingdom. It's been hell trying to catch the fine 'not-technically-illegal-but-very-advantageous-to-him' print on each and every agreement."

"I can't tell if I'm envious of his way with loopholes or just plain annoyed," the crow agrees.

"With great power comes great craftiness," Kuroo intones. "Or maybe it's the other way around."

The crow looks at him sidelong. "Speaking from experience again?"

"Who me?" Kuroo grins and bites into a chocolate eclair.

The crow grins back at him, fully facing Kuroo now as he nods towards the eclair. "Those are good."

"Oh," Kuroo says through a mouthful of delicious chocolate and tries not to flash any teeth at the crow. "Speaking from experience?"

"Yes," the crow replies, not taking the bait. "I was fully prepared to fight you at the food table for it, just so you know."

"If your definition of 'fight' was to duel me with politeness, I'll have you know you'd probably have won if we weren't interrupted."

"Thank you. Now I can sleep at night knowing that I have another victory secured under my belt."

"Ah yes, the ancient art of politeness on display again. You, my fine crow, are a champion at this." Kuroo polishes off the rest of his plate. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until he started eating. Maybe the crow was right about hunger and travelling distances. "How about a rematch?"

"At the food table? You must be particularly hungry," the crow remarks, a smile in his voice.

"Nah, I probably won't be able to beat you in that department either." Kuroo pushes his plate aside and leans an elbow on the table. "How about on the dance floor? Would you like to dance, sir crow?"

"Oh," falls from the crow's lips but he recovers quickly. "You'll get indigestion, dancing on a full stomach."

"I will have no such problem," Kuroo says confidently. He has done more than dance right after eating before.

"I don't really dance," the crow admits.

"I could teach you," Kuroo offers, holding out a hand.

The crow smiles back but doesn't take his hand. Kuroo can read another apology on his lips when a flash of silver appears right above the crow's head and Kuroo opens his mouth in warning just as the newly arrived crow slaps his crow between the shoulder blades.

His crow squawks, his wings flaring out behind him and nearly sweeping the crow behind him off his feet. Spread wide, his wings tower above Kuroo, sleek black feathers laid out along a sturdy bone structure, strong enough to bear the weight of a human body. They are beautiful, stealing the air right out of Kuroo's lungs as he gazes up at them.

Quick as they had come out, the crow folds his wings against his back, some of his feathers ruffled after the sudden movement and he smooths a hand over them as he turns back with a glare. The silver-haired crow that had startled him drops into a chair next to him, unapologetic and windswept from dancing.

"Alright, s' your turn," the silver-haired crow says breathlessly, looking between the crow and Kuroo. "Oh, look, you've already got yourself a partner. Nice."

"I was in the middle of being turned down," Kuroo tells him, sending a silent, telepathic prayer for help over.

"Whatever for?" the silver-haired crow says in amazement, turning to the crow. "Was he being a jerk to you or something?"

"Yes, at first, but he's slightly more tolerable now," the crow says wryly and Kuroo's heart flutters with hope.

But he doesn't want to push too hard and end up right back in the intolerable range so he concedes. "Don't feel like dancing? I'll drop it if you aren't in the mood."

The crow hesitates.

Understanding dawns on the silver-haired crow in a flash and he leans forward to look Kuroo in the eye, his silver eyes glinting through the holes in his mask. He has a fancy one on, the edges trimmed with a stiff lace that threads through the sides of his hair. "He's probably worried about stepping on your feet," he whispers far too loudly. "He's not so good with footwork, this one, but he dances nicely enough if you hold him really well."

" _Hey,_ " the crow says indignantly, although his face flushes in a way that makes Kuroo think that the silver-haired crow is right.

Kuroo nods knowingly. "Don't worry, I'm really good at avoiding stray feet and guiding wayward crows through the dance floor. You'll be safe with me, promise." He offers his hand to the crow again with a small smile. "So, once more, would you like to dance?"

The crow glances at his hand, then at his friend and back again before taking Kuroo's hand with a huff.

"You couldn't have come at a worse time," the crow mutters at the silver-haired crow as he stands.

"You mean a better time," the silver-haired crow corrects with a grin. "Have a good time, the both of you!"

"On a scale of one to ten, how likely am I to be stepped on while dancing with you?" Kuroo asks lightly as they wait for the current song to end.

"Ten. It's too late to regret it," the crow informs him.

"Aren't you bird folk supposed to be light anyway? You know, hollow bones for better flight?"

The crow shoots him a look and says, amused, "You wish."

The song draws to an end and they take up a recently vacated spot on the floor, fumbling for a moment as they try to figure out whose hand goes where before the next song starts up.

"I'm taller," Kuroo says smugly, his hand resting on the crow's back and brushing the underside of his wings.

He swears he sees the crow roll his eyes as he rests his hand on Kuroo's shoulder. "Not for long," he mutters under his breath.

The song starts up, and it goes well. The crow isn't as bad of a dancer as his silver-haired friend makes him out to be, even though he spends more time glancing down at his feet instead of looking up at Kuroo.

"Hey," Kuroo says, by way of catching his attention.

"Hm?" the crow answers without looking up.

"Eyes up here?" Kuroo suggests. "I think your feet are doing fine even without your supervision."

The crow shrugs but he tilts his chin up to meet Kuroo's gaze. "It's your loss."

Almost instantly after he looks away, a heavy weight crushes Kuroo's foot on their next step and Kuroo bites down on his lip to keep himself from yelping. He still emits a pained whimper anyway, his fingers digging into the crow's hand, and the crow backs away from him, his gaze snapping downwards again as he steps off Kuroo's foot. He would have taken another step back and slammed into another couple but Kuroo holds him fast, dropping his head onto his shoulder as he sucks in a quick breath of air. They are lucky that it is a slow song, which allows them to come to a near stop in the middle of the floor.

"I'm sorry," the crow apologises, his face flushed as Kuroo lifts his head from his shoulder after the pain fades to something more tolerable, "but I told you."

"It's fine, I'm fine," Kuroo breathes, exhaling heavily as they start moving again. "Keep looking up."

The crow gives him a doubtful look and Kuroo brings his tail to the front, curling it around the backs of the crow's thighs. The next time he makes a misstep, Kuroo knows to bring his foot away instead of letting it get crushed under the crow's foot. They end up with a slightly different variation of the dance, with Kuroo dodging the crow's feet every few counts, but Kuroo thinks it is fine as long his feet are safe.

"You're pretty good at this," the crow admits. "Most people would have given up on me by now."

"That would be such a waste." Kuroo smiles at him in what he hopes is a most charming manner.

"Do you like dancing?" the crow asks thoughtfully.

"I do when I have a charming partner."

"Then you must be forcing yourself now," the crow says wryly.

"On the contrary," Kuroo meets him with a grin, "I'm enjoying myself immensely."

"You weren't enjoying yourself a minute ago when I stepped on your foot," the crow points out and Kuroo winces at the reminder.

"That was in the past— hey, don't step on me _again_." Kuroo sidesteps a particularly wayward foot, guiding the crow aside with a firm hand on his back.

"Honest mistake, my apologies."

There is nothing apologetic about the barely concealed mischief in the crow's eyes or the twitch of his mouth and Kuroo smiles despite himself. It was not just flattery on his part when he had called his crow partner charming because he _is_ charming, playful beneath that seemingly stern front. His mask covers the top half of his face, set over a strong jaw and firm chin, but his mouth is inviting, soft and well-used to smiling. Through the eyeholes in his mask, his eyes are a warm brown in the light, sparkling with a mirth that warns Kuroo to watch his feet again.

Instead of dodging this time, Kuroo tightens his grip on the crow, swinging him around easily and dislodging his steps. The crow's wings ruffle behind him, spreading slightly to catch his balance as he rights himself in Kuroo's hold.

"Change of pace," Kuroo says innocently as the band segues into another song with a count twice as fast as the previous song. "Keep up."

"You keep up," the crow retorts, lifting his head in challenge to Kuroo.

Kuroo smirks, tightening his hold on the crow. "Oh, I will."

\---

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" Kuroo says breezily, loosening his collar as he leaves the ballroom.

"It looked like you and that other crow were trying to beat each other up on the dance floor," Kenma comments. "Don't you usually save that kind of thing for the bedroom?"

"I didn't expect us to become a spectacle." Kuroo grimaces. One moment they were trying to outmanoeuvre each other in that tight space between the both of them and the next moment half the dance floor had cleared out rather than get caught up in their spontaneous competition.

The both of them had broken apart the moment they noticed that they had somehow become the centre of attraction and Kuroo had slunk towards the shadowy sides of the ballroom before he realised that he had lost his crow companion. Even with some cautious searching after the attention on them had dispersed, he had not managed to find his crow again.

"It was entertaining at least," Kenma says, the corners of his lips quirking up, which was his way of laughing at Kuroo. "You can look for him tomorrow night."

"I hope so." Kuroo sighs, longingly remembering the press of the crow's body against his, pushing back when Kuroo tried to take up more of his space, his legs tangling in his when the crow tried to trip him up. There had been so much promise in what they had building up between them. Something fun, something special, something _more_ that Kuroo had been looking forward to.

He sighs again.

Kenma says nothing, not even bothering to give him the stink-eye as he usually would, which makes Kuroo think that Kenma's night with Hinata had gone exceptionally well. He is envious of them. Happy for Kenma, but still envious. Kuroo hadn't even managed to get a name.

Tomorrow then, as Kenma had said. He will look for the crow and ask him to dance again, unusual footwork or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, I haven't attempted a multichaptered fic in a while (after the past 5 un-updated attempts or so...) Currently, this is tentatively planned for 4 chapters but we'll see how it goes!
> 
> EDIT: NOW WITH [ART OF KUROO WOOING DAICHI WHILE THE MAN IS JUST TRYING TO GET TO HIS FOOD](http://kythen.tumblr.com/post/159869785629) BY THE SUPER AWESOME HARDBOILED-SAN.


	2. Second Night

Daichi yawns.

He knows it is bad manners but he doesn't bother covering his mouth, considering that it is the crack of dawn and the only people up and awake and navigating their way through the guest quarters are Asahi and him.

"Tiring night?" Asahi asks, amused.

Daichi scowls at him. "Not you too."

"It's not every night you get to see a fight break out in the middle of a ballroom," Asahi says. "Involving the lord of your fief, no less."

"We weren't fighting, not exactly... Ugh, this is all Suga's fault and he's not even awake yet," Daichi grumbles. "Why am I awake?"

"You said yes to Nishinoya when he asked if you wanted to watch him joust this morning," Asahi reminds him.

"That's only because I was standing next to you when he asked you." Daichi yawns again, glaring at Asahi through watery eyes. "This is all your fault. I'm going to join in later and joust against you. Get ready to fly, beardy."

"I'll pass," Asahi says, rubbing his chin self-consciously.

They emerge into the courtyard as Daichi yawns for the third time in a row and he stops to blink away his blurry vision. As it clears, a magnificent sight manifests before him and Daichi stays rooted to the spot, turning his head to take in all of it.

As expected of the Aobajousai castle, every bit of green in their grounds is a garden of its own. The path before them is a carpet of neatly trimmed grass, sturdy enough to withstand being trodden on on a daily basis, luxurious in a way that grass has never been in Karasuno. The castle walls line one side of the path, thin vines climbing the walls and spreading their leaves like victory flags, and tall flowering hedges line the other side, each towering up to at least two metres tall and forming a natural wall. Daichi doesn't recognise the array of flowers blooming on the hedges but he finds them beautiful, each petal perfectly formed and vividly coloured. They sweeten the morning air, refreshing rather than cloying, and Daichi breathes in deeply to clear away his sleepiness.

"Aobajousai really is something," Asahi murmurs, as quietly awestruck as Daichi as he steps forward to press a careful hand to the wall of leaves.

It isn't an unbroken line of hedges as Daichi had initially thought and he notices periodic gaps between them, wide enough to fit four people abreast. They are entrances leading into the leafy walls, he realises as he steps into the nearest gap. He is met with another hedge right inside and the paths on either side of him are clear for a certain distance before they are blocked off by hedges again.

"It's a maze," Daichi says aloud, stepping back out and wondering at the intricacy of this construction. He is tempted to take to the skies to look at it from above, just to see how deep it goes.

"A maze?" Asahi hurries to his side and peers into the gap curiously.

"A garden maze," a voice concurs from behind them.

Daichi and Asahi whip around and Oikawa takes a swift step back to avoid being hit by two pairs of wings.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Oikawa says conversationally, as if he had been a part of this conversation right from the start.

"Oikawa," Daichi says blandly before he remembers his manners. "Yes, it is a work of art."

"We started growing the hedges once my father passed his title and the castle down to me," Oikawa elaborates. "Each of them stand two and a half metres tall and half a metre thick. If you venture within, you will find that different variations of flowers grow in each section, although we've grown moonlight flowers along the tops of all the hedges for after-dark walks and the like."

"Moonlight flowers?" Asahi asks, intrigued.

"It's a special variation of moonflowers that we engineered. Makki and I finally got them to glow at night and we thought they would be a better alternative than having to wave torches of fire through that delicate greenery." Oikawa shudders at the thought. "Lucky for you honoured guests, the moonlight flowers are in full bloom now and even though they are best viewed at night, they look lovely even in the day. How about taking a look inside? That is, if you aren't afraid of getting lost." Oikawa smiles and it is a pleasant smile, a handsome smile. Daichi doesn't trust it.

"We would love to, but we were on our way to the morning jousting session," Daichi declines politely.

"Oh, Iwaizumi's heading that," Oikawa notes. "I should come along to see how that goes."

With that, Oikawa effectively invites himself to their previously two-man party. He points out the shortest way to the courtyard where the jousting session is being held, which is a good thing. But he also talks on the way there and more specifically he wants to talk about last night, which is a bad thing because Daichi can't ignore him without coming off as rude.

"So, Sawamura, you had fun last night, didn't you?" Oikawa asks, cutting straight to the chase with a smile. "I saw you dancing with someone from Nekoma."

"It was an experience," Daichi says as blandly as possible. It was fun, he admits to himself privately, although he hadn't liked the attention they drew from the crowd. The cat hadn't seemed to like that either, disappearing without a trace, and Daichi hadn't seen him again that night. He wonders if he will see him tonight. He wonders if he will ask him to dance again.

"Do you know who your cat companion is?"

"No," Daichi answers and Oikawa looks delighted. Oikawa definitely knows and Daichi doesn't want to give him one up over him but he goes for it anyway. "Do you?"

"Who knows?" Oikawa sing-songs, a reply at the ready. "It's a mystery, isn't it? That's what masquerades are for—how exciting."

Daichi grits his teeth and Asahi's wings flutter in worry beside him.

"Will you be jousting later?" Daichi asks Oikawa, relaxing his jaw as he switches topics smoothly.

"I don't know," Oikawa muses. "That's usually more of Iwaizumi's sort of thing."

"You should give it a try," Daichi suggests pleasantly, ignoring the alarm rolling off Asahi. "It'll be an experience."

\---

The door bursts open and Daichi rolls off the bed, dropping to the floor in an instinctive crouch. He had been dozing, trying to catch up on some sleep before the ball started, cozy in his nest of blankets and feathers. His wings are still fluffed up from when they had been wrapped around him and he thinks he lost some feathers on the way down.

"Jeez, Daichi, I can't believe you were sleeping at a time like this," Suga chides, kicking the door shut behind him. "Why aren't you getting ready?"

"Uh, because the ball doesn't start for another hour?" Daichi relaxes, backing up against his bed and dropping onto it. "Wait, are your wings _silver_?"

"Daichi," Suga says, aggrieved. "It's a masquerade ball. You have to dress up a bit. Or a lot, but I'm giving you some leeway here. And yes, they are." Suga preens, running a hand over his once black, now silver wings.

"Is that permanent?"

"It's temporarily painted on. A bunch of the bird folk have been cooped up in a spare room doing colours and patterns but I think someone might faint from the fumes soon. The ventilation is terrible. But enough about that, what have you got prepared for tonight?" Suga looks around his room, his hands propped on his hips.

Daichi points at a neat set of clothes hanging from his chair. He had brought his best shirt, vest, and pants from home, along with a black tailcoat Suga had gifted him with the tails beautifully embroidered to match his wings. His mask lies on the table beside a haphazard stack of reports, which Daichi had skimmed through before beating a temporary retreat to his bed.

"Daichi," Suga says patiently, "that's nearly the same thing you wore yesterday."

"The coat's different."

"The coat's different," Suga concedes, "and I'm happy to see you like my gift but, Daichi, it's a masquerade ball, which means costumes and finery."

"Those are my best clothes," Daichi says lamely.

Suga presses a hand to his forehead. "I knew I should have looked through your clothes selection before leaving Karasuno. Do you at least have a spare mask?"

"Did we need a spare mask?" Daichi asks blankly.

" _Daichi._ "

Daichi raises his hands defensively. "Look, Suga, I'm just here to appease Oikawa and watch over the lot of you. Costumes and finery aren't really my thing."

Suga walks over and drops onto the bed beside him with a heavy sigh. "I know that but we don't get asked to many parties like this, let alone masquerades. The kids are having fun dressing up and all, but what about you?"

"I'm having fun, in my own way." Daichi drops his gaze, scrutinising his hands. Last night, he had spent a considerable amount of time holding on to the cat's hand and letting him guide him around the dance floor. He had started pushing back after a while and while it was short-lived, he could honestly say that it had been fun for him.

"Oh?" Suga ducks to peer into Daichi's face. "With a certain feline gentleman from Nekoma?"

"Maybe," Daichi says evasively, but not evasive enough considering the smirk growing on Suga's face.

"He was persistent," Suga remarks cheerfully. "Hey, maybe if you weren't interrupted, I wouldn't have seen you to this room last night. He was certainly angling for that."

"He was?"

"Now I feel bad for him." Suga looks pitying. "He was doing his best."

"I thought that was just to get me out onto the dance floor," Daichi mumbles, his face hot.

"That was half the struggle," Suga tells him. "So now that you know the gentleman's intentions, what do you intend to do?"

"Dance with him?"

Suga squints at him. "Is that a metaphor...?"

"What? No! I mean that literally."

"You're a terrible man, Sawamura Daichi. A real heartbreaker," Suga says solemnly. "I'll leave you to your boring clothing choices. At least that will make you easily identifiable to the poor man."

"Did you just come in here to insult my clothing?"

"Nah, that's just part of it. I also came over to show these off," Suga turns his back towards Daichi and spreads his wings, his silver feathers catching on the fading sunlight through the window, "and to warn you when the others show up with all sorts of wings and things later on."

\---

Hinata's wings are sunset orange and Kinoshita has the tawny wings of an owl. Tanaka's mask is welded metal with a long, sharp beak protruding out from it like a threat, his wings accentuated with white highlights which look intimidating when spread. Daichi wonders how the paint washes off and glances self-consciously at his own untouched wings. He supposes he should be grateful that Kageyama and Ennoshita still have wings in the usual shade of crow-black so that he isn't entirely alone in his ordinariness. Even Tsukishima has traces of paint in his feathers, the underside of his wings coloured a pale blond to match his hair.

They also have more dresses in their entourage tonight than they had last night and Daichi blinks.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Suga murmurs in his ear. "Yachi has been helping Yamaguchi plan this since they were in Karasuno and Noya borrowed a dress off her since he liked the way it felt."

Daichi's eyes travel from the unusually twitchy crow clutching onto Tsukishima's arm, tall and elegant in a dress of pale yellow, to the much shorter crow standing by Asahi's side, legs firmly planted and arms akimbo in a rose orange dress with the skirts pinned up to one side for free movement. Nishinoya still has his hair in the same style, ambitiously gelled up with a streak of yellow right in the middle, the same pattern now copied onto his wings, but Yamaguchi's hair looks longer, meticulously curled so that it cascades over his bare shoulders.

"They look lovely," Daichi murmurs back. "Why didn't they do this back in Karasuno?"

"They might, once we get back," Suga replies. "But here, as I told you, it's a masquerade, which means the chance to try out new things as they like. Yachi helped me with this too." Suga gestures at the half-skirt at his waist. "Her designs are the best and I'm telling you this is definitely going to be the next best thing. Although," Suga says grimly, "Oikawa's wearing something similar tonight so it sort of spoils the exclusivity. One of us has got to go."

"Try not to assassinate the host while we're in his castle, will you? I don't want us to have to fight our way out."

"And after then?"

"I'll leave it up to your discretion."

The fanfare starts up beyond the closed doors in front of them and Daichi straightens up, tugging at the lapels of his coat and smoothing out his coat tails. The chattering around him quietens to an excited buzz and Daichi turns back to face his entourage of crows, all glowing with anticipation.

"Everyone ready?" Daichi asks them and he is met with nods all around. "Then let's go." He steps forward and throws the doors open, leading his crows into the second night of the masquerade ball.

The noise draws him in instantly, voices and music blending into a cacophonous hum around him. Heads turn, assessing their group, noting their wings and differentiating them from the other bird folk already in the hall. Beside him, Suga's silver wings flare the slightest from his back, catching stares as they walk into the hall. Some of the crows peel away from their group, already meeting with acquaintances from other fiefs, and other folk approach the remaining crows, drawing them away with polite conversation.

Daichi keeps his head high, conscious of his surroundings, even if not many in the hall actually know who he is behind his mask. The rest of the attention will fall away with due time—he isn't striking enough to hold them for long—and then he can move freely through the crowd.

There is a tap on his shoulder and Daichi turns to see Suga looking at him expectantly, his teeth flashing in a smile. Shimizu stands beside him, a stunning picture in sleek black pants and a corset over a high-collared shirt, wearing a mask that spreads across her face like the wings of a black butterfly crafted out of intricate lacework.

"If you're going to dance, you should brush up on your footwork with Shimizu before going back to your cat," Suga tells him.

"I heard that last night was a disaster and you need help," Shimizu says, her voice quiet in the din of the hall.

Daichi winces. He knows that she means well but putting it out there so bluntly makes him wish that he had paid more attention in the dance classes they attended before coming over.

"Thanks, Shimizu, but I think I'll be fine—"

"You've already stepped on his foot," Suga interrupts him, "but what if you step on something like his tail the next time? Neither of you are going to live that one down."

Daichi is horrified at the thought, even though he remembers how the cat had managed to keep his tail out of the way last night, and the mortification makes him take Shimizu's hand and walk onto the dance floor with her.

"Sawamura," Shimizu says the moment they start dancing, his hands tense on her. "You need to look up at your partner."

"That's what he said too," Daichi admits, "and then I stepped on him."

Shimizu laughs a bit, smiling as she coaches, "Try counting the steps in your head. Follow the beat of the music. Then you can look up when you're ready."

Daichi takes a fortifying breath and does as she tells him, starting over when he messes up and listening to her quiet instructions. Right before the song ends, he braces himself and looks up at her, all while moving. He doesn't step on her and she smiles encouragingly as the music fades out. Around them, partners shift and stay and Daichi looks at Shimizu inquiringly.

She isn't looking at him but over his shoulder as she says, "I think you'll do just fine, Sawamura."

"Are you sure?" Daichi asks but she is already moving away from him, weaving through the couples forming on the dance floor.

There is a tap on his shoulder and Daichi turns. He looks up into a familiar smirk, half a face hidden behind a simply decorated mask of black and a pair of black cat ears lost amongst a head of unruly hair.

"So we meet again," his cat says, his voice warm and pleased.

"So we do," Daichi replies, his heart startling in his chest, caught by surprise by the cat's sudden appearance.

Like Daichi, the cat seems to favour simplicity over costumes and finery, dressed in an ensemble of all black, which only accentuates the leanness of his frame. But there is toned muscle under his clothes, which Daichi knows from keeping close contact with him last night, filling out his shoulders and sleeves nicely, shaping the cloth around his legs when he moves. The only obvious change from last night is his coat, which stops at mid-thigh, a sleek black on the outside and a deep velvet red on the inside, a subtly elegant article of clothing.

"I thought you didn't dance," the cat says, looking around at the dance floor pointedly.

"I thought I'd give it a try," Daichi says. "Just to check if the soles of my feet were only magnetically attracted to the tops of yours."

"And what's your conclusion?" the cat asks, amused.

"I don't know." Daichi takes a deep breath and goes for it. "I might have to check against you again."

"Well then, anything for science," the cat says and holds out his hand with a smile. "Would you like to dance?"

This time, Daichi takes his hand without hesitation.

The cat pulls him close but instead of bringing a hand around to Daichi's back, he rests it on Daichi's shoulder. "You danced well with the other crow," he says as Daichi takes up the complementary position. "Would you be more comfortable in the same position?"

"Is that comfortable for you?" Daichi says, glancing down at the cat's legs, which are slightly bent at the knees.

"It's fine," the cat replies. "You're not that short. Shorter than me, yes, but what is ten centimetres in the face of a chance to dance with you?"

"I can't tell if that was meant to be flattering or insulting," Daichi mutters.

The cat grins and squeezes Daichi's hand as the music starts up.

\---

"Twice," the cat says cheerily as they pull out of the dance floor. "That's a marked improvement from last night. I lost track of the number of times you stepped on me after five."

"Be glad that I didn't step on your tail," Daichi tells him tartly, remembering Suga's words.

The cat curls his tail around his waist protectively and touches it with a suppressed shudder. "So does this mean that you were practising before dancing with me?" he asks, letting go of his tail.

"I could have just wanted to dance," Daichi says evasively and scowls at himself as the cat smirks knowingly. He isn't very good at this evasive thing.

"You could have," the cat agrees with him nonetheless, still smirking. "Acquired a taste for dancing after last night, did you?"

"It might have been better than expected," Daichi admits, deciding to concede this one to the cat. He did have fun in his company and at this point of time it seems unnecessarily stubborn not to admit it. "I had a good partner."

He waits, expecting a smug answer he would have to counter. But it doesn't come and he turns to find a smile on the cat's lips, his face flushed pink under his mask.

"As did I," the cat says. "Thank you."

Their hands brush and the cat hooks his fingers under Daichi's quickly, almost impulsively, to bring the back of Daichi's hand up to his lips. Blushing must be contagious because Daichi feels his face heat up at the contact, burning redder than the cat's as he drops Daichi's hand and looks the other way with a cough.

"I'll get us something to drink," the cat clears his throat, ducking away before Daichi can respond.

Somehow, Daichi finds his way to the side of the ballroom, following the wall until it ends at an open balcony. Fresh air sounds like a good idea now after dancing and squeezing through the crowd and that strangely intimate gesture by the cat.

Unlike last night, the cat hadn't vanished from his side right after the dance. He hadn't traded him off for another partner at any of the intervals between songs despite Daichi's awkward dancing, simply holding onto him until the shuffling around had stopped. It did seem like the cat was interested in him beyond dancing and as Daichi emerges out into the dark, he remembers what Suga had said about the cat's intentions.

Daichi is no stranger to what happens at parties like this but he has never really thought of getting involved. He had been approached once or twice before by interested parties but most people backed off once they found out that he was the Lord of Karasuno, which was a smaller fief in the kingdom, but nevertheless connoted a certain degree of power most people preferred to avoid. Dancing was something of a formality and he wasn't sure-footed enough that others came back again so he had spent most of his time looking out for his crows or gravitating to the food table, which was admittedly not such a bad way to pass the time at a party.

He rests his hands on the banister, taking in the crisp night air and the fresh, green scent of flowers. In a way, Suga was right about masquerades. While Daichi had not decked himself out in costumes and finery, he was having fun for the first time in a very long while. There was just something about the cat that drew him in, pulling him into pushing and pushing him into pulling. It was a lot like dancing.

Daichi smiles, scrutinising his hands on the banister. It has been a while since their dance but the sensation of the cat's hands lingers warm on his skin. Maybe it isn't so bad to try new things if it made him feel like this.

"You're fond of disappearing from sight, aren't you?" the cat's voice drifts over to him and Daichi turns to see him in the doorway, a tall silhouette against the brightly lit ballroom.

Daichi had forgotten to tell the cat where he would be, but it wasn't like the cat had given him the time to do so before dashing off. "I think you may be referring to yourself."

"I guess it can't be helped, seeing that the both of us are dressed so sombrely in black," the cat drawls. He seems to have recovered his composure during his time away from Daichi, wearing his usual smirk as he approaches Daichi. He is holding two glasses of wine and he offers one to Daichi. "Black wings and black ears and tail, we make quite the pair, don't you think?"

"Maybe I should have painted my wings too." Daichi takes the glass from him and sniffs at it cautiously. It smells floral, like most things in the Aobajousai fief are. "Gone for something nice and bright and noticeable."

"That would have been pretty but I might have lost you in the crowd," the cat remarks, leaning against the banister. "Although I doubt so, given that you are an incredibly striking man."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," Daichi says wryly.

"I'm serious," the cat says softly, his voice barely carrying over the din of the ballroom. "You're stunning."

It might just be the wine but Daichi's chest goes warm, his heart racing, and he puts the glass down on the banister so that it doesn't slip out of his hands. The cat is outright shameless but the worst part of it all is that it is actually working. Daichi is embarrassed—he never thought that he would be this susceptible to flattery or compliments or whatever it is the cat intends it to be but here he is, letting himself get caught up in the cat's rhythm.

Daichi laughs a little, at himself, his hands toying with the stem of the wine glass. He doesn't know what to say.

There is a faint touch against his wing, the one closest to the cat, and Daichi shivers slightly. Then it disappears, replaced by a murmur, "May I?"

Daichi nods once and the touch comes back, a careful hand running lightly down his feathers. It is another strangely intimate gesture, just like the kiss on his hand from earlier, which only reminds him of the cat's intentions towards him. Daichi thinks about it, thinks about having the cat's hands on him, stroking along his wings or holding him like he did while they danced, touching him in places more intimate. He thinks about kissing him right here on this balcony, barely out of sight from the ballroom but dark enough that it could be done.

He could do it, and then what?

"Hey," the cat murmurs against his ear, his hand falling away from Daichi's wing to rest on the banister, his arm boxing Daichi in casually. "Look at that."

The cat is peering over the edge of the balcony and Daichi takes a moment to catch his breath before he follows his gaze. He expects it to be dark, given that the only light in the castle comes from the ballroom behind them. But it isn't, not entirely, when the ground below them is speckled with soft glowing bits of white. They are flowers, Daichi realises as he leans over the banister to look at them more closely, growing from hedges that form an intricate pattern over the ground. The balcony must be facing the garden maze they had passed by this morning and Daichi looks out over it, stunned by the vastness of it.

The maze goes much deeper than he imagined, interrupted in places by pavilions of flowers, softly lit by a concentrated growth of glowing white flowers. Those must be the moonlight flowers that Oikawa had mentioned and Daichi can see why they would be preferable to torches. It is a beautiful sight, a garden of night only the likes of Aobajousai could accomplish, and Daichi can sense the cat's interest in it.

"It's a garden maze," Daichi says, briefly explaining what Oikawa had told him.

"Surely, it looks a-mazing," the cat remarks and Daichi fights back the urge to toss him over the banister for that. The cat surveys the maze for a few more considering seconds before he turns to Daichi and suggests, "Would you like to explore it?"

"We'd have to go back through the ballroom," Daichi says, glancing behind him.

The cat moves away as Daichi turns, his arm falling away from Daichi as he leans back against the banister. Hidden by his mask and the dark, Daichi can't make out his eyes, but his smirk is there, an invitation and a challenge all wrapped up in one as he says, "No, we don't."

"This sounds like the beginning of a very bad idea," Daichi says warily.

The cat peers over the edge of the balcony again, assessing the distance between the balcony and the ground. They are only on the second floor of the castle but Daichi maintains that whatever the cat is suggesting would be a terrible idea.

"You can fly," the cat observes, looking back at Daichi, the edges of his smirk getting awfully sharp.

"If you're suggesting that I fly us both down from here because you don't want to take the long way down," Daichi starts.

"I'm not. I'm suggesting that you can get down there however you want, but flying would be a much faster way. I'll meet you there." And with that, the cat leaps over the banister in one swift move, plunging into the dark without a sound.

" _Shit._ " Daichi grips the banister, his wings flaring out behind him as he kicks himself off the floor and up into the air.

He lands with a muffled _thump_ on the grass, folding in his wings as he turns in a quick circle, looking for the cat in the dark. He can barely make anything out, even in the softly glowing light of the garden maze.

"I _swear_ ," Daichi grits out, "if you've gone and broken your neck—"

A hand wraps itself around his wrist, tugging him towards a warm body, but Daichi stands his ground and yanks back, making the cat stumble into him instead. The cat braces a hand on Daichi's shoulder, straightening up sheepishly as he says, "I'm fine. Don't you know? Cats always land on their feet."

"You're going to break your knees," Daichi says flatly.

"You could always fly me down the next time," the cat suggests. "I accept all future offers with ready enthusiasm."

"I could break your knees," Daichi offers.

"You could," the cat agrees, his teeth flashing in the dark, "but then we wouldn't be able to dance anymore."

The cat slips his hand down to Daichi's, interlacing their fingers, and Daichi lets him pull him over to one of the entrances to the maze. His heart is still racing from his short flight down and his initial panic that the cat had gone and injured himself doing something needlessly stupid. Sure, the cat was not one of his crows that needed watching but Daichi's heart had dropped when the cat had thrown himself over the banister without so much as a warning.

"I am sorry about worrying you," the cat says quietly, picking up on his unease. "I thought you knew I'd be fine."

Daichi sighs, smoothing a hand over his ruffled feathers. "No, I overreacted. Sometimes I forget that other folk have traits of their own."

"You were worried about me." The cat smiles, fixing an out-of-place feather for him. "That's sweet but please don't actually break my knees. I need them." He tugs at their linked hands. "Still with me on this?"

Daichi nods. "Let's go. If you get lost in here, you might actually need me to fly you out before you become fertiliser for Oikawa's plants."

"Suddenly," the cat remarks, "my goal for this maze is to get lost."

\---

After three dead ends and one complete loop that leads them back to where they had started, Daichi thinks that the cat wasn't joking when he said his goal was to get them lost in the maze. Not that Daichi minds, that much. As he had told the cat, if things got too hopeless, all he would have to do is fly them both out.

Away from the dizzying lights and noise of the ballroom, Daichi finds himself relaxing. The maze is exciting but the presence of the cat by his side distracts him from mapping out a proper path through the maze. The cat seems more eager than him about this, chattering away and speculating about how deep the maze goes as they pass through different sections of flowers. Neither of them had discussed what was the actual goal but Daichi thinks they could call it a night if they came across one of the pavilions of flowers they had seen from the balcony. The cat hasn't let go of his hand since the start and Daichi pulls on it as the cat tries to make a right turn.

"I'm pretty sure that isn't the right way," Daichi tells him, locking the cat in place.

"If it's right, it's right," the cat insists, pulling at him. "I'm sure that the other way leads to a dead end."

"That's what you said before we walked into a dead end. Three times."

"Fourth time lucky?"

"If we go left and it's a dead end, we go right," Daichi compromises.

"And I get to pick the next direction," the cat bargains.

"Fine," Daichi says and tows him towards the left.

The path opens up for them and Daichi turns back triumphantly to the cat. But he doesn't get to savour the victory for long because the cat's eyes widen, fixed on something over Daichi's shoulder, and he pulls Daichi back with a sudden burst of strength. It sends Daichi flying into him and the cat's back slams into a hedge, dislodging more than a few leaves, his arms scrabbling to keep Daichi close to him.

Daichi turns and he sees a flash of orange cross the path they had been heading towards and a familiar voice trailing after it, saying, "Wait, Nishinoya, do you actually know where you're going—"

Daichi stiffens, staying completely still as they wait for Asahi and Nishinoya to pass. He could still convince Asahi to keep silent about meeting him here in the maze, alone with someone from another fief, but Nishinoya is a free spirit and Daichi is sure that if Nishinoya saw him here, everyone in Karasuno plus a fair bit of the castle would know about this. While it was common knowledge that these sort of things happened at parties, discretion about certain details was encouraged, and Daichi doesn't think he would live down the copious amount of _gossip_ it would generate.

The cat has to be thinking about the same thing, even if Daichi is certain that neither Asahi nor Nishinoya would recognise him if Daichi doesn't know who he is. He has to be uncomfortable, trapped between a surprisingly solid wall of leaves and Daichi's weight, and Daichi eases off him to give him a bit of breathing space. But the cat doesn't take it, his arms stuck fast around Daichi, listening intently as Asahi and Nishinoya's footsteps disappear in another direction.

"What are they doing here?" Daichi murmurs, more to himself than the cat.

The cat answers anyway, his voice pitched as low as Daichi's. "Mm, you know. The same thing that we're doing. Navigating a maze, getting to know each other in the dark..."

"Is that why you suggested coming here in the first place?" Daichi raises an eyebrow. He should have known that this was but a clever plot to get them to a more secluded place than the balcony—no, he had known and that was why he had followed the cat into the maze.

"Maybe," the cat says evasively, running his hands down Daichi's back. "Is it working?"

Daichi looks up into the cat's face. This close to him, he can finally see his eyes in the glow of the nearby moonlight flowers. They are a warm amber, hopeful as he gazes down at Daichi, tracing the curve of Daichi's lips.

Daichi kisses him.

Their masks bump into each other but Daichi still manages to press his lips to the cat's, leaning his body up to reach. Their first kiss is a surprise, uncoordinated and short. It is a confirmation when the cat kisses him back, his lips moving against Daichi's and his hands settling firmly on Daichi's hips to pull him even closer.

As Daichi draws back to catch his breath, the cat murmurs reverently, "I've wanted to do this for the longest time."

"Maybe you should have done this earlier," Daichi says, his lips tingling with warmth.

The cat says nothing for once, leaning in to slant his mouth against Daichi's, carefully avoiding his mask. Their second kiss is much less of a surprise and more of an exploration as Daichi parts his lips and the cat slides his tongue against his. The cat kisses like he means it, his hand coming up to cup the back of Daichi's neck, coaxing him into deepening the kiss without pulling back. His other hand presses against Daichi's lower back, his fingers running up Daichi's spine and making Daichi shiver.

Daichi's hands feel idle in comparison and he moves them up along the cat's chest, his hands spread to cover as much ground as possible, before inching up the back of his neck to slide into his hair. He has always wanted to touch the cat's ears out of curiosity and he brushes his thumb over one pointed cat ear.

The cat purrs, the sound rumbling out from his chest, and Daichi startles, bumping his mask against the cat's. He can't help it but he smiles into the kiss, stroking both of the cat's ears and trembling with suppressed laughter as the cat purrs harder.

"You're amused." The cat pulls back with a crooked smile, sensing Daichi's distraction.

Daichi drops his hands to the back of the cat's neck, smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry, I really should have asked."

"You can keep doing that, if you like," the cat says, his voice dropping lower as he whispers in Daichi's ear. "It feels really good."

Daichi's face heats up as the cat dips his head for another kiss, his hands roaming over Daichi's body. Their hips are pressed together and the cat slips a knee between Daichi's legs, coaxing him to rest his weight on him, keeping a hand at Daichi's lower back to steady him. His other hand has started working open the top buttons of Daichi's shirt and Daichi feels the cool air against his neck as the cat parts his collar.

The cat knows exactly what he wants, moving fast to get at it, and Daichi feels dizzy, warm and heady as the cat breaks their kiss. The cat blinks slowly, his amber eyes flashing in his mask, and then he presses his mouth to the exposed skin of Daichi's neck. Daichi exhales sharply as the cat nips at a spot under his jaw, his lips forming a gentle pressure against his skin. He wraps his arms around the cat's shoulders, sliding his hands back into his hair and stroking his ears, twitching as the cat shudders against him and moans into his neck.

The cat moves his thigh up between his legs and Daichi stifles a sound, shifting his body and trying to align their groins together—

"—do you think you're doing here, you shitty lord?" an angry voice bursts out somewhere to their side and Daichi nearly loses his balance, biting down on a sharp inhalation of breath as the cat's leg jerks up into somewhere particularly sensitive.

The cat catches him before he falls and steadies him, his eyes wide in his mask as he detaches himself from Daichi's neck, licking his lips unconsciously. Daichi meets his eyes, just as startled, trying not to mind how uncomfortably hot he is under his clothes as they both freeze in place and listen.

"But Iwaizumi," they hear a voice whine petulantly and Daichi doesn't know which of them stiffens even more at the sound. "What do you think I even built this garden maze for? It's beautiful, it's romantic, and it's absolutely irresistible to young couples looking to have some fun. That's us! In fact, I think we have more of a right to it than any of these other couples out here, seeing that we grew it."

"No, you have less of a right to it because you're the goddamned host of this masquerade!" the angry voice continues and Daichi recognises its owner as Iwaizumi, the knight who had held the jousting session this morning. "You can't just up and disappear when you feel like it!"

"It's just for a while," Oikawa argues back, "and everyone's off having fun so they won't notice."

The cat's ear twitches and he pales, whispering urgently in Daichi's ear, "They're coming this way."

Daichi moves away from the cat, trying not to fumble too much against the hedge, his heart pounding as the leaves rustle with their every movement. Finally, the cat extracts himself from the hedge and he grabs Daichi's hand, dragging him towards the direction they had come from. This time, they don't spend time arguing about which way to go and Daichi lets the cat lead him through the maze, rounding corners at a dizzying speed until they reach the entrance they had come in through without meeting a single dead end.

Daichi pants, his thoughts and senses a mess as he tries to control his breathing. The cat had known where he was going the whole time and something about that pricks at Daichi uncomfortably.

"What was that about?" Daichi questions him as they distance themselves from the maze, the cat still pulling him along by the hand.

"You have a reputation to uphold, don't you? Oikawa definitely knows who you are," the cat answers.

Daichi stops. Their interlinked hands strain against the tension and then break apart. "You know who I am?"

There is a considerable pause and then, "Yes."

"Then who are you?" Daichi asks, straining his eyes in the dark. But they are too far from the garden maze and the moonlight flowers. He can't see where the cat is.

This time there isn't an answer and when Daichi reaches out around him, the cat is gone.


	3. Third Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before reading this chapter, please take note of the **RATING JUMP** for this fic. This chapter is rated E for a very good reason.
> 
> If you would like to skip the E-rated part, skip the scene that starts with _"He doesn't know"_ all the way to _"his fingers delicately."_ and continue on to the next scene.

Yaku takes one look at Kuroo as he walks into the dining hall and says, "That's your normal hair."

"Really. I wonder what else it could be," Kuroo mutters with his face pressed against the polished wood of the dining table.

Yaku sits across from him and sets his tray down as Kuroo unfolds himself into a proper sitting position. "Your hair looks different after you've had a night of sex."

Kuroo touches a hand to the top of his head. "Wait, what?"

"So since it's your normal awful bedhead today," Yaku continues, tearing a piece of bread apart, "I'm assuming you didn't get any last night."

"And why are you so concerned about my love life again?" Kuroo squints at him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yaku dunks his bread in his soup.

Kuroo stares. "Friendship...?"

"Bets." Yaku points the soaked bun in his direction. "I'm running the betting pool and if you don't sleep with the crow by tonight I'm going to lose money."

"That's awful," Kuroo says, scandalised. "You're taking bets on my love life?"

"As I said, what love life?" Yaku glances at Kuroo's hair pointedly.

Kuroo prods his hair self-consciously. "So? What are the odds?"

"Well, most people think that you have no chance with the crow after what the both of you did on the dance floor the first night," Yaku says. "The more intelligent people recognise it as your mating dance and they have faith in you landing the crow."

"And you?"

"I changed my bet last night but looking at you today, I have no idea how this is going to end." Yaku furrows his eyebrows at him. "You're usually pretty predictable. It's usually one on the first night and another on the next for you."

"You're making me sound like an awful person."

"You haven't done that for years though. Not since Kenma was officially named the heir."

"I've been busy."

"You've changed," Yaku says. "All that responsibility has really made an effect on you, hasn't it?"

"Don't say it, Yaku," Kuroo wails, hiding his face in his hands. "I'm growing old."

"We're the same age, you nitwit. And I'm not old." Yaku pelts Kuroo with a piece of bread. "But seriously, you've been flirting so much but you haven't made a move? What's up with that? Are you waiting for an official invitation to fuck or something?"

Kuroo hesitates. "Do you know who the crow is?"

"No." Yaku's eyebrows disappear into his hairline. "And you do?"

"I'll give you a hint: he's a Sawamura."

Yaku chokes. "You're courting the Lord of Karasuno?"

Kuroo slaps a hand in his direction and looks around frantically. "Shh, Yaku."

Yaku coughs, dissolving into fits of laughter as he looks incredulously at Kuroo. "Oh my god, you really know how to pick them, don't you? Kuroo, this is so bad for you."

"I know," Kuroo says glumly.

"But you're attached to him."

Kuroo fiddles with his fingers. "He's interesting. And humorous. And caring. And he's so good at talking back to me. And eating. And so promising at sex. But he's so bad at dancing."

"All this and you haven't even seen his face," Yaku remarks, his mouth twisting into a smile.

"Exactly." Kuroo spreads his hands helplessly. "Yaku, what if I want to keep seeing him after tonight?"

"That's not going to be an easy feat, considering that it's, well, you," Yaku tells him seriously. Then he shrugs. "But you've done harder things in life before and you're still here."

"That's surprisingly motivational coming from you." Kuroo raises an eyebrow at him.

"If I can beat a couple of new recruits into shape, I can at least whack some sense into that thick skull of yours."

"And you also have a bet to win."

"And I also have a bet to win." Yaku grins at him. "So are you going to help me win some money or not?"

"I would love to, since that seems to be the whole purpose of my love life," Kuroo says dryly. "But I'm afraid that things aren't looking too good for either of us."

"What is it?" Yaku asks. "An argument? He stepped on your tail while dancing? You touched him in an inappropriate place before the time was right?"

"Oh, it was the right time to be touching him in inappropriate places. The problem is that I ran away."

"God," Yaku groans, "I have to change my bet again."

\---

Kuroo takes one step into the ballroom and promptly takes a step back out. And then another step back for good measure. The other cats swarm past him on either side, decked out in masks and their second-best or third-best clothes. While yesterday night was for grand festivities, costumes and partying until the sun came up, tonight was all about winding down and getting ready to leave Aobajousai the next day. The masquerade balls would become a fond memory in the minds of some, a good political alliance in the eyes of others and a whirlwind romance for a lucky few.

Kuroo had achieved none of these in the two nights out of three he has been here and given how he had ended off his second night, it looks like he is going to leave Aobajousai with his tail between his legs and his bed sad, cold and empty. He should have stuck to sleeping with his reports and waking up with ink stains all over his cheeks.

"What's up with you?" Kenma asks, hovering on the threshold between the ballroom and the corridor Kuroo's feet have taken root in.

"I don't want to go," Kuroo tells him.

"I thought that was supposed to be my line."

"Good, you're self-aware."

"Is this about the crow?"

"Yes," Kuroo's traitor mouth says.

"Did you have a fight?"

"I wish we did." It would have been much easier if he had offended the crow outright or done something unspeakably bad because it would mean that he would have something to apologise for. But what he did was run away with no explanation for his disappearance, leaving the crow deliciously disheveled but overall untouched. If Kuroo was in the crow's shoes, he would be unspeakably offended and demand an explanation for his disappearance. That is the part he fears the most because he doesn't know how to start explaining himself.

"You should go," Kuroo tells Kenma. "Tonight's the last night you'll get to meet your crow friend."

"I could say the same to you." Kenma looks at him, his golden eyes steady in his mask. "What are you so afraid of?"

Kuroo's tail twitches nervously and he grabs onto it, trying to settle it down. He looks at Kenma and he sees how good of a leader he would be if he stopped rebelling and settled into his birthright as the Lord of Nekoma. They had grown up together in the Nekoma castle, the two of them against the world, or rather, Kenma against the world and Kuroo trying to drag Kenma out into the world. All these years together, he has never envied Kenma for being born as the heir of Nekoma, but now he thinks wistfully that if he was in Kenma's position he wouldn't be having this problem in the first place.

Yaku was right about the crow being a bad match for him.

"We would never have been able to meet normally," Kuroo admits, wringing his tail. "I never should have gone after him."

Kenma rounds on him, looking supremely unimpressed. "Kuroo," he says quietly, "it's a masquerade. You can be anything or anyone you want to be. Then you can disappear afterwards or march right down to Karasuno and ask for his hand in marriage. But nothing is going to happen if you don't go into that ballroom right now."

Kuroo drops his mangled tail. Then he curls it back around himself, trying to groom his fur back into lying flat. "You know," Kuroo says, a smile fighting its way onto his face, "I never thought you'd be the one having to give me a pep talk before a big party."

"I never thought you'd be such a big scaredy cat that you would need a pep talk before a party."

"Oh, so are you admitting that you're usually the big scaredy cat before parties?"

"I'm not scared I just don't want to go."

"Excuses, excuses." Kuroo inspects his tail, satisfied by its glossy sheen before he lets it go.

"So what's your excuse?"

"I have none. I'm a big scaredy cat," Kuroo declares. "But I'm a big scaredy cat with a crow to chase."

Kenma turns back to the door and braces a hand on it. It had swung shut during their conversation, blocking out the sounds of the masquerade ball within. Kuroo hears them now as he steps up to the door, patting his hair down and tugging his clothes into place.

"By the way," Kenma adds, "I heard that Yaku padlocked your door so you either have to find someplace else to sleep or sleep on the floor outside."

"I guess he didn't change his bet after all," Kuroo remarks as Kenma pushes open the door and they step into the third night of the masquerade ball.

Kuroo loses Kenma immediately after a whirlwind of orange descends on them, cawing Kenma's name and pulling him away from Kuroo with a cheery shout. Kuroo waves his tail at them as they leave, his eyes scanning the crowd for another crow decked out in somber black and with a presence Kuroo could never miss. That was how he spotted him last night, dancing carefully with a beautiful crow, counting his steps and watching where he placed his feet. It had been an endearing sight but Kuroo had wanted to tease another kind of dance out of him, the kind of dance that is all entangling feet and secret smiles on the dance floor; the kind of dance that ends with them pressed together in the dark with his mouth on the crow's and his hands sliding under all that stuffy clothing.

The sense memory of last night sends a shiver through Kuroo as he weaves through the crowd, drawing himself up tall to look for his crow. There are all sorts of wings everywhere, crow, owl, eagle, some painted in outrageous colours and some painted to mimic the wings of other creatures. Someone with fading butterfly wings painted over slender eagle wings walks past him and an owl wing painted crow black bumps into him. But he doesn't see his crow and he hopes that he hasn't decided to paint over the beautiful black of his wings. Black was their colour and it would be a shame if he did away with it.

Maybe his crow would be back at the food table, trying to break his record from the first night. Kuroo starts in the direction of the food table just as a hand closes itself around his tail and he whips around, baring his teeth in a hiss.

His crow drops his tail, his face stiff under his usual mask, the same mask Kuroo has seen him wear for three nights in a row. He doesn't have his fancy coat on tonight, dressed plainly in a white shirt, a dark brown vest and pants. Not black, Kuroo notes with some disappointment and his eyes flick to the crow's untouched wings in relief.

"Dance with me," the crow says flatly, holding his hand out to Kuroo.

"It would be my pleasure," Kuroo replies, his heart pounding as he takes his hand.

There is no fumbling, no fighting when they reach the dance floor and the crow puts Kuroo's hand firmly on his back, gripping his other hand in his as the music starts up. The crow is stiff in his arms, his footwork back to being a mess. But unlike the first night, it isn't deliberate or playful. He is unhappy, angry and hurt, his eyes cold in his mask.

"Why did you leave last night?" the crow goes straight for the throat and Kuroo hides a wince.

"I'm sorry."

"If you're sorry about it why did you leave?"

"I had a lot of things to sort out," Kuroo says and it sounds like an excuse even to him.

"Because you knew who I was?" the crow says harshly.

"That's part of it," Kuroo hesitates, "and it's also because of who I am."

"Who are you?" the crow asks and Kuroo looks away.

A burst of pain erupts in his foot as the crow stomps on him and Kuroo looks back into blazing brown eyes, his eyes watering from the crushing pain.

"Don't look away. Look at me," the crow says, drawing himself up to his full height to meet Kuroo's eyes. "That's what you taught me, didn't you?"

"You're a fast learner," Kuroo mutters as he wraps his tail around the back of the crow's thighs and moves his feet accordingly.

The tension seeps out of the crow as they round the dance floor, falling into rhythm with the other couples. As the music comes to an end, the crow's grip on him slackens and Kuroo holds on to him as he waits for him to make a decision. If the crow wanted to leave now and never see him again, he would let him go and resign himself to sleeping on the floor outside his room tonight. But he won't let him go without trying to hold on to him for just a while longer.

The crow glances at their clasped hands and then back at Kuroo. His eyes have cleared up, no longer dark and stormy, but still unreadable. If he left, Kuroo would regret that he never got to see the crow's face. But he would remember those eyes. He would recognise them even in his dreams.

The shuffling crowd around them forms into neat pairs for the next song and the crow steps away from Kuroo. Kuroo's heart sinks as he untangles himself from the crow but his hand sticks fast to the crow, still held tight in a clasp, and he looks at it in surprise.

"If you have a lot of things to sort out, sort them out with me," the crow tells him as he tows Kuroo off the dance floor. "You can't just kiss someone like that and leave."

"I seem to be getting you hooked on a lot of things," Kuroo replies, still staring at their clasped hands as they weave through the crowd. "Dancing, and now kissing."

"It must be because of who you are as a person," the crow says sarcastically. "Whoever you are."

They make it out of the crowd and the crow heads straight for the door, throwing it open and pulling Kuroo out of the ballroom. Kuroo doesn't know if he should be fighting the crow and freeing himself when he doesn't know where they are going, but he finds that he doesn't want to. It is a miracle that the crow still wants him back after his abrupt disappearance last night. The crow could take him back to his bedroom and ravish him and Kuroo would thank him for it. Maybe the crow would even let him ravish him back. He had seemed willing enough in the garden maze last night.

But they aren't heading towards the guest quarters, Kuroo notes with some disappointment. The crow leads him through the castle's winding corridors and up a set of spiralling steps. They even duck through a window at one point, which Kuroo discovers is _not_ the crow's attempt to throw Kuroo off the castle but an outside walkway in the billowing wind. Finally, the crow stops before a nondescript dusty door and jiggles the handle before it pops open for him.

"In." The crow holds the door open for him and Kuroo wrinkles his nose at the musty smell of the room as he steps in. He sneezes once and a cloud of dust clears from the nearest piece of furniture.

The crow seems to have brought him to a storeroom of sorts, decorated with scattered pieces of furniture, dull with dust and worn down with time. Some are stacked in haphazard piles that look like they might fall over at the slightest touch and Kuroo eyes them warily. The most stable thing in the room looks like an old piano standing apart from the rest of the furniture and Kuroo leans on it cautiously, trying to look nonchalant.

The crow shuts the door behind him and folds his arms over his chest as he faces Kuroo. "Okay, talk."

"Um?" Kuroo raises an eyebrow before realising that the crow probably can't see that behind his mask.

"Who are you?" the crow asks.

"I can't tell you that."

The crow's jaw tightens and Kuroo knows that the cogs in his head are working, running through a list of possible reasons why Kuroo wouldn't want to tell him who he is. The most obvious one would be because of a drastic difference in status, considering the crow's position in Karasuno. Or it could be the opposite and Kuroo could be someone important in Nekoma, and it would be even worse if he was already married or betrothed to someone. He knows that the crow is smart enough to come up with a reason for Kuroo's silence and not push it further, even if it is frustrating considering that Kuroo knows who he is.

The crow opens his mouth and snaps it shut, shaking his head in resignation before he tries a new question, "If you knew who I was then why did you come after me in the first place?"

"I didn't know who you were at first," Kuroo answers truthfully. "I only found out yesterday."

"Is that why you left?"

"Well, yes."

"Do you want to leave now?" the crow asks.

Kuroo hesitates. He should but he doesn't want to. It took him two whole nights of flirting, a spontaneous pep talk by Kenma and every bit of courage he has to make it this far. "No."

"What changed?"

"I have..." _A lot of feelings for you. It's only been two nights since we've met but I've never met anyone like you and I feel like if I leave now, I'll never meet anyone like you ever again because they aren't going to be you. I want to get to know you better. I don't want this to end in just three nights._ "A lot of stuff," Kuroo finishes lamely. "Going on. You know, in my head."

The crow stares at him, his brown eyes unreadable in his mask. Then he asks abruptly, "Do you want to sleep with me?"

And there was that too.

Kuroo nearly slides off the piano. "Is that an offer or a question?"

The crow flushes under his mask. "It's just... It seems like you've been angling for that."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to," Kuroo says carefully, suddenly taking an interest in the thick layer of dust on the piano and on his hands now too. He wonders how long all these furniture must have been lying around in this very secluded, very cramped room.

"Okay," the crow says, taking big strides towards the piano Kuroo is half-perched on. "Okay, if that's all you want from me I don't care who you are, if you're a lord or a cat or a stable boy or _whoever_. You don't have to tell me that." He stops before Kuroo, barely an inch away from touching him. This close, Kuroo can see his lips tremble as he takes a deep breath, his voice achingly soft as he says, "But I do want a name and a face, if you're willing to give me that much."

The crow's hands go to the back of his head, loosening the ribbon securing his mask to his face before Kuroo can react. He holds his mask in his hands and looks up at Kuroo, just like all the times they have danced together. The look in his eyes hasn't changed, his head tilted challengingly and his jaw stubbornly set. Only that this time, Kuroo sees so much more of him. He sees how all of him fits together on one canvas, forming a whole picture of the crow he has gotten to know in bits and pieces over these three nights.

"I'm Sawamura Daichi," the crow says. "Although, I suppose you already know who I am."

Kuroo was wrong. He never would have gotten over him if he had let him walk away just like that. There is so much to Sawamura Daichi he has yet to know, _wants_ to know.

Sawamura looks at him, his eyes searching and his hands careful, slow as not to startle as he reaches for Kuroo's mask. "May I?"

"Go ahead," Kuroo says, his voice soft, his breath caught in his throat. He doesn't dare to move, not with Sawamura this close to him, untying the ribbon behind his head with gentle hands before taking his mask off.

"I'm Kuroo Tetsurou," he finally breathes as Sawamura holds his mask and his heart in his hands.

"Kuroo," Sawamura says and Kuroo's heart stutters at the sound of his name on his lips. He reaches around Kuroo to put their masks down on the piano and the motion brings his face startlingly close to Kuroo's.

Without either of their masks in the way, seeing Sawamura like this is dizzying. He _is_ handsome but that isn't the point when Sawamura is looking at him this intently, scrutinising every inch of his face, memorising how Kuroo looks.

Kuroo's hands are smeared with dust but he wants to touch Sawamura, his hands trembling on either side of him. Sawamura sees this, sees all of him, and he wraps his fingers around Kuroo's wrist, his gaze holding Kuroo still as he leans in and presses his lips to Kuroo's.

\---

He doesn't know if it is fine to pin avian folk flat down on the bed so he keeps Sawamura on his lap, his hands hot and heavy on his thighs and hips, clutching at him and pulling him even closer than they already are. Sawamura's hands are busy, wrapped around both their cocks, pressing them together and stroking them to a steady rhythm. The places on his neck that Kuroo had nipped at earlier have started to show signs of his handiwork, lovebites that won't fade for a while blooming beautifully across his skin.

Kuroo pants, the heat in him building up under Sawamura's hands, and he noses the strong line of Sawamura's jaw before capturing his mouth in a kiss. He can't help but tease as he trails his tail up Sawamura's side, savouring the way he shudders against him, his hands tightening around them both. Sawamura moans into his mouth, his legs tensing up around Kuroo's waist and his heels digging into Kuroo's lower back. When Kuroo opens his eyes, he sees Sawamura's wings quiver behind him, pulled taut against his back.

They are beautiful and Kuroo raises a hand to one of his wings, running his fingers over his feathers before digging in deep and feeling the black feathers gather between his fingers. Sawamura arches at his touch, gasping as he breaks away from their kiss. His brown eyes are hazy, glazed over with a heat that makes Kuroo shudder—he is close, and so is Kuroo.

"Sawamura," Kuroo gasps, trying to find the words to tell him what he wants, "could we, can I—" Sawamura's thumb swipes over the head of his cock, stroking the tight skin there, and Kuroo groans, his hips bucking up into Sawamura's touch. Words escape him entirely and Kuroo tugs Sawamura close to rest his chin on his shoulder, his hands settling on Sawamura's ass and his fingers slipping into the cleft of his ass with clear intent.

"Please?" he breathes into his ear and he feels Sawamura's face heat up against his.

Sawamura leans back to look him in the face, his hands slowing on their cocks. "Penetrative sex?"

"Yes, that." Kuroo nods enthusiastically, finally remembering the words for it. "I mean, only if you're okay with that."

Sawamura looks dazed and Kuroo can see his thoughts working slowly, trying to wrap his head around the concept of Kuroo wanting to put his cock in him. Kuroo knows the exact moment he comes to a decision because he turns a shade of red darker before he nods.

Kuroo kisses him, running his tongue along the seam of his lips lingeringly before he pulls away with a smile. Sawamura tugs at a corner of Kuroo's lips with his thumb fondly before he climbs off Kuroo and goes digging in a side drawer. Kuroo hisses at the sudden loss of contact and he directs his attention to Sawamura to distract himself, running his eyes over the lines of his body as he leans over the drawer. He had been right in his hunch about Sawamura's body, his muscles firm and well-defined, his ass perfectly shaped and his stomach just a bit soft around the middle.

Sawamura turns back to Kuroo with a small bottle in his hand and he looks disapprovingly at Kuroo, his eyes darting down to where Kuroo had started stroking himself unconsciously while observing him. Kuroo moves his hands away, feigning ignorance even as his cock aches desperately for touch and he reaches out for Sawamura. Kuroo takes the bottle from him with a smirk and Sawamura scowls at him.

"Stop," Sawamura says warningly.

"I didn't say anything," Kuroo says, his eyes wide. "What, did you expect me to say something about you keeping a bottle of lube ready by your bedside for situations like this?"

Sawamura digs his knee into Kuroo's thigh and Kuroo yelps, nearly dropping the bottle of lube. He recovers quickly enough, running a hand under Sawamura's thigh and kissing him on the mouth to placate him.

"What position would be comfortable for you?" Kuroo asks, tugging gently on a feather on Sawamura's wing. "You know, given that you have these?"

"Oh." Sawamura seems to consider this, his wings fluffing out at the mention of them.

"On your back would be ideal, but if you can't we could go back to how we were before or you could turn around..." Kuroo suggests, heat clouding his head as he thinks of Sawamura in any of these positions.

Sawamura moves and Kuroo shuffles backwards, giving him the space to spread himself out on the bed. He braces himself on his hands and knees before shifting to lean his weight on his forearms, raising his hips to create a beautiful curve in his body as his wings spill over his broad back. Kuroo's mouth suddenly feels very dry, his throat tight as he stares at Sawamura, his hands slack on the bottle of lube. Sawamura looks back at him, his eyes narrowed, and Kuroo springs into action hurriedly, unscrewing the bottle with clumsy hands.

Sawamura tenses up as Kuroo slides his first finger in and Kuroo leans over him, pressing gentle kisses to the back of his neck. He works his finger in and out of him slowly, letting him adjust to the feeling of having something in him before he eases a second finger in. Sawamura rests his face on his forearm, his ears burning red as Kuroo curls his fingers in him, trying to feel for his prostate.

"Have you ever done this before?" Kuroo asks as the thought strikes him.

"You?" Sawamura throws the question back, his voice strained.

"A few times, here and there," Kuroo answers half-truthfully. "Not recently though. You?"

"Same as you," Sawamura replies and Kuroo frowns, catching a hint of a smile on Sawamura's face before he buries his face into the pillow. He is usually good at catching untruths but he can't tell if Sawamura is telling the truth or not.

Kuroo's fingers brush against the right spot and Sawamura tightens up around him, his chest dropping against the sheets as he inhales sharply. Kuroo rubs against his prostate, smirking as Sawamura moans, his pillow not doing enough to muffle the sound. He slides his fingers out, slicking his cock up quickly and kneeling between Sawamura's legs. He presses the head of his cock against Sawamura's hole, watching for Sawamura's nod before he pushes it in.

It is a tight fit and Kuroo rubs soothing circles against Sawamura's lower back, trying to get him to ease up around his cock as he pushes it all the way in. Having his cock buried in Sawamura's heat almost makes him sob in relief and he thinks that he could come with a few quick thrusts into Sawamura after all that stimulation.

"Are you okay?" Kuroo leans over Sawamura, pressing his nose to Sawamura's nape and breathing in his scent deeply.

Sawamura nods, his hand groping for Kuroo's hand as he gasps, "Move."

Kuroo interlaces their fingers together before pulling his hips back and then slamming them forward, moaning at the sweet friction against his cock. He feels close, too close, and he thrusts into Sawamura relentlessly, his fingers digging into his skin to keep him in place. The heat builds up at the base of his cock, humming under his skin, and Kuroo pulls out of Sawamura with a desperate whine. He slides his cock between Sawamura's thighs, his fingers wrapping around their cocks and stroking them frantically.

Sawamura's hand tightens around his and then he is coming all over Kuroo's hand, his body shuddering under Kuroo and his knees slipping against the sheets. Feathers fly as his wings thrash against his back, unfolding before Kuroo and nearly knocking him off the bed. Kuroo has never seen them like this before, spread wide to their full length and ready to fly. His feathers quiver, laid out in rows and rows of glossy black, his wings sinking down on either side of him as Sawamura pants into the sheets.

The heat in Kuroo's cock peaks and the breath hitches in his throat as he moans, bucking his hips against Sawamura as he spills into his hand. He collapses against Sawamura, careful not to crush his disarrayed wings as he rolls him on his side, his mouth hungry for a kiss. Sawamura meets him halfway, raising his head off the bed, his hand grasping the back of Kuroo's neck. His fingers slide through Kuroo's hair, stroking his ears long and lovingly, and Kuroo melts against Sawamura, his body too languid to listen to him.

"Stay with me for the night," Sawamura murmurs, pulling Kuroo close to him with an arm around his waist, his eyes already sliding shut.

"I will," Kuroo promises, bringing his hand up to his lips and kissing the back of his fingers delicately.

\---

Kuroo leaves in the morning, right before the sun rises and the birds wake.

He pads around Sawamura's room on quiet feet, untangling his clothes from Sawamura's and smiling at a particular stubborn sleeve tangled in Sawamura's shirt. He dresses quickly, running a hand over his hair and wondering if Yaku would notice any changes in it this morning. Yaku would probably be delighted, seeing that Kuroo did indeed sleep with the crow last night with all evidence present in his hair and on his neck and chest. Kuroo has a particularly stubborn bitemark on his shoulder he feels even through his clothes which probably won't fade anytime soon.

Sawamura is still asleep by the time Kuroo is ready to leave, half-curled up on his side and comfortable in his nest of blankets and feathers. That nest had included Kuroo just a few minutes ago, tucked under Sawamura's arm and wing in what he would consider the most comfortable spot in the world. It had almost made him reconsider waking up entirely when he could be snug and cozy with Sawamura wrapped around him like a warm, feathery blanket.

Sawamura's face is relaxed in sleep and Kuroo kneels by his bedside, running his eyes fondly over his nose, lips, the lines in his face. He probably won't be able to see Sawamura again, unless it is from afar or at another party with masquerades and masks and lots of dancing, he hopes.

There are feathers scattered all over the bed, the aftermath of his night with Sawamura, and Kuroo's fingers find their way to a feather stuck under the folds of the sheets. It is the longest one he sees, a flight feather, jet-black and beautifully formed, and Kuroo slips it into his pocket before he leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost at the end! Just one chapter left for this fic if everything goes as planned.


	4. First Day

There isn't a Kuroo Tetsurou in Nekoma.

"There is a Kuroo," Suga says, flipping through a stack of papers and pulling out the relevant sheet, "but she's permanently stationed at the east border, which means she wouldn't be at Aobajousai for a party. Plus she's much older than you are, Daichi, so there's no chance that she's the Kuroo you're looking for."

"Does she have any family?"

"None. She was orphaned at a young age, which is why she entered into service as a knight early. There aren't any records of a marriage or any surviving relatives. She's the only Kuroo in Nekoma." Suga puts the papers down on Daichi's desk and looks at him in concern. "Daichi, have you considered that your cat might have given you a false name?"

"He likely did," Daichi sighs, resting his forehead in his hands. "I should have guessed."

Suga puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It was a masquerade after all. Not many people would want to reveal who they are when they are given a perfectly good reason not to. Your cat probably nearly fainted when he found out who you were."

"He ran away." Daichi scowls.

"You've got to give him some credit for coming back after finding out," Suga remarks thoughtfully. "He's either got nerves of steel or he's just one very smitten cat. But, Daichi, what would you have done if he had stayed until the morning with you?"

Daichi doesn't have a ready answer to Suga's question. It isn't as if he hadn't been thinking about it when he had first kissed the cat in the garden or again in the storeroom, but at those times it had seemed more important to act first and to think of what came next later. For someone who was able to pick Daichi out so easily in a ballroom full of people, the cat was frustratingly elusive himself and Daichi had the impression that if he didn't pin the cat down at those instances, he would just slip away and vanish into the night as he liked. And he had, in the end, and Daichi just wishes that he had held on to him a little tighter.

He was never that familiar with this aspect of parties and it had been fun letting himself get drawn in by the cat's charm and wit, bantering back and forth, dancing with him and ending up in the bedroom by the end of it all. He liked being with the cat, liked the teasing lilt in his voice when he talked and the wicked curve of his lips when he smirked, liked the patience he had when guiding Daichi through their dances and the gentle way he has always touched him. On the last night, he had let Daichi take his mask off for him even though he had seemed so keen on hiding who he was and the raw vulnerability and wonder on his bare face made Daichi think that maybe he wasn't the only one who was a little more than a little in love with the other.

But maybe he had been wrong because parties were parties after all and anything that happened in them disappeared after they were over and done with, and masquerades only made it easier for people to slip away after the fun was over. When Daichi had woken up in the morning, he had found out that the cat had stayed the night with him, and nothing more than that. He hadn't even left the slightest trace of himself behind except for a false name.

"Maybe some things are best concluded in one night," Suga interrupts his thoughts gently. "And you've had three."

"You're right," Daichi says, even though admitting it makes him feel slightly foolish for thinking that something would have come out of his encounter with the cat. "He probably never intended for it to continue after the masquerade ended."

"He must have been really special for you to pine over him this much," Suga comments, his silver eyes glinting in mischief. "Exceptional on the dance floor and mind-blowing in bed."

"He was alright," Daichi says nonchalantly, even as the mere mention of it makes the heat rush to his face.

"That he even got into your bed was a feat in itself," Suga continues, a grin growing wide on his face. "I only met him once but if you ever come across him again you should introduce us. I want to shake his hand. Maybe award him a medal or something. Thank him for bedding our beloved Lord of Karasuno and saving him from his years of monkhood."

"Don't you have work to do?" Daichi says pointedly, his face burning red.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Suga admits, dropping the topic and picking through the stack of papers again. "I was just trying to put it off because the next matter might set you off."

"Just spit it out already."

Suga clears his throat. "The next Lord of Nekoma, Kozume Kenma, is of age to inherit the title and he wishes to pay a visit to all the fiefs in the kingdom. This, of course, includes Karasuno."

\---

Kozume Kenma obviously does not want to be here.

Throughout the entire meal, Kenma has only looked Daichi's way once and even then Daichi thinks he might have been forcing himself so that he didn't appear rude to his host. The cat sitting next to Kenma had nudged him a couple of times, picking up the conversation in places where Kenma fell silent with practiced ease and a little bit of exasperation. Daichi remembers him as Yaku from the initial introductions and the curious way he had stared at Daichi for a moment longer than necessary, his brown eyes alight with interest.

It has been weeks since the masquerade ball at Aobajousai and Daichi thought that he had managed to put the cat out of his mind. But when Kenma and his entourage had arrived, Daichi had caught himself scanning the small group of cats, hoping to find a head of terrible hair and a familiar smirk among them. As expected, his cat hadn't been there and the rest of the proceedings went over normally with Daichi engaging Kenma in a bit of small talk as he led the way to their dining hall, trying to distract himself from the sinking sense of disappointment in his chest.

Kenma is intelligent, going by the reports on his involvement in his estate and the way he converses with Daichi, but Daichi can sense how uncomfortable he is with talking to someone who is essentially a stranger to him. His voice is quiet and he looks resolutely at the floor as they walk, hiding behind his curtain of hair. He reminds Daichi of the younger crows in his fief who aren't accustomed to social situations, awkward when faced with strangers and at ease only in the company of friends. Daichi knows that Kenma isn't being rude but if he is to inherit the title from his father, this would be something he had to face on a near-daily basis.

"I hope the food was to your liking," Daichi says to Kenma kindly, noting his drooping ears and tail.

"It was very good," Kenma replies without meeting Daichi's eyes.

"I'm glad. It is getting late but before you return to your rooms, would you like a brief tour of the Karasuno castle?"

"That would be wonderful," Kenma says woodenly, his ears twitching uneasily.

As they leave the dining table, Daichi looks over at the far end of the table where the younger crows are seated, searching for a head of orange hair and beckoning to him. Hinata shoots out of his seat and comes bounding over as if waiting for Daichi's cue, his wings bouncing excitedly behind him. Daichi hadn't missed the way he had been staring intently at Kenma all throughout dinner and he remembers seeing Hinata in the company of a cat with a familiar head of splotched hair at the masquerade ball.

"Would you like to accompany Kenma on his tour of the castle?" Daichi asks Hinata as he comes to a stop before him. "You're closer in age to him and it seems that you've already been acquainted."

"Oh! We met at Aobajousai," Hinata says, fidgeting self-consciously. "I met him on the first day."

"He seemed to enjoy your company during the ball."

"We're friends," Hinata says brightly, confirming Daichi's hunch.

"Then you should go speak to him."

Hinata nods enthusiastically and bounds over to Kenma before remembering his manners and slowing to a brisk, if not slightly bouncy, walk. Daichi watches the two of them meet and the stiff slope of Kenma's shoulders relax as Hinata starts talking to him.

"Nicely done," Suga whispers in his ear as he passes him and Daichi grins back at him before smoothing it into a formal smile as he heads towards the cats.

With Kenma occupied by Hinata, Daichi finds himself walking with Yaku and another cat he remembers as Kai, two of Kenma's inner circle. They are both friendly, polite and genuinely interested in what Daichi has to say about the Karasuno castle, even though Yaku keeps looking at him oddly, his lips pressed together in a thin line as he listens to Daichi.

"The windows in your castle seem exceptionally large," Kai remarks to Daichi as they pass a window, closed and locked for the night. "Doesn't it get draughty when they are open?"

"Sometimes it's faster to get around the castle by flying instead of walking. Hence, the windows here have to be big enough to allow a crow to fit through," Daichi explains, stopping at a window and unlocking it to show them. "They're also built with doors like such to allow easy access from the inside and outside so that we can keep them closed against the cold but still access them as we like. Of course, during the winter months, we don't fly as much so they stay closed most of the time."

"That's convenient," Kai says admiringly. "There seem to be many benefits to having wings like yours."

"There are certain downsides to them," Daichi says wryly. "Grooming them into place in the morning takes forever and having feathers out of place during the day feels like a constant itch. Plus the feathers get all over the place considering the number of us here so you have to excuse us."

"Do they fall off easily?" Yaku asks, interested. "The feathers, that is."

"We do have moulting seasons but other than that, it's rather minimal," Daichi says, his smile freezing in place as a memory of black feathers scattered over an empty bed rises in his mind involuntarily.

He had lost an embarrassing amount of feathers in that one night he had spent with the cat. The cat had tried to be mindful of his wings but he had also tugged on them a number of times during the heat of the moment, catching them between his hands and the sheets when he leaned over Daichi or laying his weight on them when he had snuggled up to him. Daichi hadn't lost enough of them to affect his appearance but he had spent the morning cleaning them up moodily, bagging them up and tossing them into his belongings before leaving Aobajousai. When he found the time, he was going to fletch them into arrows and shoot them someplace far away.

Daichi shuts the window with a snap, bringing himself back to his present company at hand. Yaku's ears are twitching, his short tail swishing behind him as he surveys Daichi. There is an amused glint in his eye and Daichi wonders if he had said something funny. But Kai looks impassive, his expression betraying nothing but polite interest as Daichi leads them away from the window.

A quick glance behind him shows Kenma and Hinata in the middle of the small tour group with Hinata chattering away about the adventures he had in the castle and Kenma nodding along, interjecting once in a while with a quiet remark. Kenma looks more at ease now, as compared to when he had been with Daichi, and Daichi privately thanks Hinata for his sunny and sociable disposition.

"Is the Nekoma castle very different from the Karasuno castle?" Daichi asks, returning to his companions.

"Just a bit," Yaku replies with a small grin. "Smaller windows for one."

"We aren't as high up either," Kai adds. "We don't quite appreciate heights the way winged folk do."

"You should visit us at Nekoma one day. I think Kenma would be happy to see small and orange over there," Yaku says, glancing back at the pair of them meaningfully. "Kenma doesn't open up to many people that easily."

"Hinata would probably like to travel," Daichi says thoughtfully. "The masquerade ball at Aobajousai was his first time out of Karasuno." It would be good to let some of his crows go over to Nekoma for a short visit if they were offering. It would be an eye-opening experience for them and he was a great believer in letting young crows see the world before settling into their place in it.

"And you too, we hope," Kai says with a smile. "We would be glad to have you at Nekoma after you received us so hospitably."

"I'll take your offer into consideration. Thank you," Daichi says politely and tries not to think of Kuroo.

\---

Suga is waiting outside his study when Daichi arrives and he grins at Daichi in greeting, his wings rising from his back in a makeshift wave. Daichi unlocks the door and Suga follows him in, leaning back against Daichi's desk as Daichi closes the door behind them.

"I heard something interesting today while eavesdropping on the cats," Suga says as soon as Daichi turns around.

"What is it?"

"There's a rumour circulating in Nekoma that Kenma might not be the next lord."

Daichi frowns. "What do you mean?"

"They say that Kenma isn't the only son of Lord Kozume and that he has another son who has an equal claim to the title."

"We've never heard of Lord Kozume having another child besides Kenma."

"Not with Lady Kozume, that is," Suga says delicately.

Daichi's eyebrows nearly jump into his hairline. "An illegitimate son? But then he wouldn't have an equal claim."

"They said that he's capable and popular enough for it."

"Who is he?" Daichi crosses his arms. "If he's that capable and popular he should be well-known in Nekoma."

"That's the tricky part." Suga's lips lift in a wry smile. "No one knows. Or at least, no one on the outside knows."

Daichi looks at Suga sharply. They had grown up together, lived in the same castle their entire lives together, taken over their respective roles together, and Suga still gets cryptic about withholding information from him when it wasn't vital. He said it was a good mental exercise to keep the Lord of Karasuno sharp. It was enough to make Daichi's hair turn silver like his. "Just who did you eavesdrop on?"

"Kenma and Hinata, of course." Suga grins. "Heard it straight from the cat's mouth."

Daichi feels a headache coming along. "He's jeopardising his position by saying that out loud. Even if it is to a friend."

"I'm pretty sure that some of his inner circle knows about it. Cats have pretty good hearing, you know? Yaku or Kai or anyone else in that group could have heard about it given the distance."

"Is it a coup?" Daichi's frown deepens. "Are we expecting anyone to go after Kenma?"

"In my professional opinion, which is what I'm here for, no. Or at least not yet."

"Tighten the security around Kenma's room just in case," Daichi orders.

"I'll add an extra guard to his door and get another to watch his window." Suga straightens up and pushes himself away from the desk.

"Thanks, Suga," Daichi says, heading for his desk when it doesn't seem like Suga has anything else to say about this matter.

Before he turns in for the night, he wants to see if sending a group of crows over to Nekoma would be plausible. The young crows could go but Daichi would have to arrange for their studies to be continued in some way and for an escort to go with them. Sending Ennoshita along would be a good idea for keeping them all in line and continuing good relations with the cats. Daichi taps his pen against the desk as he considers who else could he spare.

His pen stills. He could go, seeing that the invitation had been extended to him, but he isn't sure if he could handle coming across his cat by chance in the Nekoma castle and having him politely pretend that he has never seen Daichi before. An invisible hand squeezes Daichi's heart tightly. He wouldn't be able to take it, after everything they went through during the masquerade ball.

"He didn't come, did he?" Suga says quietly and Daichi drops his pen.

He had not realised that Suga has not left, still hovering by his desk like a silver ghost. Daichi looks up at him, unable to keep the misery out of his voice as he says, "No, he didn't."

Suga's wings flutter in sympathy. "Daichi..."

"I know, I know," Daichi says, frustrated at himself more than anything. "I should forget about him. It was a three night long fling, nothing more than that.

Suga rounds the desk, running his hand soothingly over Daichi's wings before he starts grooming them. It is a comforting gesture and Daichi appreciates it, clamping down on the awful, miserable feeling welling up in him. He picks the pen up again and forces himself to start thinking, to distract him from all thoughts of the cat.

Suga peers down at his list, his eyes scanning through it quickly before he says, "You know, maybe you should put yourself on this list. If he won't come back to you, you could go looking for him."

Daichi laughs harshly. "I could but he might just spend the entire time hiding away from me."

"It's worth a try," Suga says, his fingers smoothing Daichi's feathers into place for him. "It's been weeks and you haven't been able to forget about him."

"I'm not having this conversation with you."

Suga tugs on a feather harder than necessary. "No, you're just going to mope about it and die lovesick and alone because you couldn't forget about one cat at a masquerade ball."

Daichi puts his pen down and it cracks loudly on the table. "I'll get over him."

"Sure, you will," Suga sighs, straightening out the last of Daichi's feathers before slapping him on the back. "Go get some sleep, Daichi. You've got a long day ahead of you."

Daichi doesn't want to but it is getting late and he has to be a good host to Kenma and the cats tomorrow and not appear dead on his feet so he does as Suga says, putting his papers away sullenly. He walks in silence with Suga through the castle, parting ways with him with a subdued goodnight when Suga goes to talk to the guards and Daichi heads back to his room. At his door, Daichi pulls out his key and unlocks it, reaching for the handle when he hears the faintest whisper of footsteps against the stone floor behind him.

"Pardon me, sir crow," says a voice from behind him, "but I seem to have gotten lost on my way to the guest quarters."

Daichi freezes, his heart thumping hard in his chest and sending a stream of ice through his veins. He knows that voice.

He turns and it feels like he is moving too slowly, everything around him happening too quickly as he catches sight of a familiar smirk and then a hand claps over his mouth, forcing him backwards against the door of his room. It opens seamlessly against his back and a hand catches hold of the handle so that it doesn't slam into the wall as Kuroo shoves Daichi through the open doorway.

Kuroo has momentum on his side but Daichi sees red, lashing out with a foot at Kuroo's shin. Kuroo dodges it, as expected, but Daichi carries through with the motion, kicking the door shut behind Kuroo forcefully and dragging Kuroo along with it. Kuroo's concentration wavers as he just manages to stop the door from slamming and bringing the whole castle down on them, and Daichi shoves him backwards into the door, pulling out his belt knife and holding it to Kuroo's throat.

Kuroo stills, his amber eyes unreadable as he stares back at Daichi. Then he leans back slowly, conscious of the dagger pressing against his skin, and the door shuts with a soft _click_ before he takes his hand away from Daichi's mouth. He raises both hands in the air, his palms turned to show Daichi that they are empty, his eyes never once leaving Daichi's face.

"Sawamura," Kuroo says, his eyes softening as he says Daichi's name and something in Daichi snaps.

"What the _hell_ is your problem?" Daichi hisses at him, his voice frighteningly soft and tempered with a gradually building rage. Even so, he forces himself to keep his dagger steady at Kuroo's throat. "First, you dance with me and leave, then you kiss me and leave, then you sleep with me and leave, and now you come back again to assassinate me?"

"I plead guilty to all those charges but the last," Kuroo says. "I'm not here to kill you, Sawamura."

"Then what the hell are you here for, Kuroo?"

"I just want to talk."

"The last time we talked, I remember that I did most of the talking," Daichi says bitterly. "Is Kuroo Tetsurou even your real name?"

"It's the name I like the most," Kuroo says evasively and Daichi narrows his eyes at him, having half a mind to stick his dagger into Kuroo's throat and be done with it.

"It's my mother's family name," Kuroo says more truthfully, probably having read Daichi's thoughts off his face. "Taking my father's family name would only cause complications."

Daichi frowns, this new piece of information resonating strangely with what Suga had just told him. Then it all comes together for him in a rush of realisations—the illegitimate son no one knows about, Kuroo's secrecy, his closeness with Kozume—and Daichi feels like he has just been struck.

"You're the illegitimate son," Daichi says in shock. "The one who's after the title."

Kuroo winces. "God, the rumours spread this far already?"

A chill passes through Daichi and he tightens his grip on Kuroo's shoulder, his gaze flitting to the blade at his throat momentarily—he had kissed his way up that pale expanse of skin before—before he looks Kuroo in the eye fiercely and says, "Kozume Kenma is under my protection for as long as he is in my fief. I swear if you're going after him I'm going to cut your throat right here and now."

"As it should be," Kuroo says approvingly, with far too much calm for someone who has a dagger to his throat. "I'd die before I let anything happen to Kenma. But, Sawamura, you're getting this all wrong."

"Tell me what I'm getting wrong because things aren't looking very good for you now. You didn't arrive with Kenma so how did you get in here?"

"I did. He knows I'm here. I told him that I was going to see you and he said 'Finally, you big scaredy cat.'"

Daichi frowns. "What?"

Now Kuroo looks nervous, his throat bobbing against the edge of the blade before he blurts out, "I want to apologise. I'm sorry for leaving you so many times. I honestly never meant to go back to you after finding out who you were but I couldn't help it. I meant what I said that night on the balcony. You're stunning, and every time I meet you, you get even more so and it gets even harder to stay away from you." Kuroo's voice cracks and he licks his lips nervously, the colour high on his cheeks as he continues, "I'm not here for Kenma, I'm here for you. I wanted to see you again, Sawamura."

Daichi's grip on his dagger tightens involuntarily and Kuroo flattens himself against the door, eyeing it with some trepidation. "Please don't slice my throat. It took me all I had to get that all out," Kuroo says hoarsely.

"How do I know you're not lying?" Daichi demands. This entire situation is ridiculous, with Kuroo coming back to him in the heart of the Karasuno castle of all places, but Daichi so badly wants Kuroo to be telling the truth. He wants everything he just said to be true.

"Fair enough," Kuroo concedes. "Going by how quickly you put it all together, you know that Kuroo Tetsurou doesn't exist in Nekoma. And that's the way it should be because I don't want anybody contesting Kenma's claim to the title. I've done my best to disappear so you have to know what a bad idea it is for me to be courting the lord of another fief at this very moment."

"And the rumours?"

Kuroo scowls. "Kenma. He's been trying to foist the title onto me because he doesn't want to be the next lord. He'd rather hole up in his room and stay as far away from any social activities as possible."

"I did get that impression from him earlier. So he's the one who started the rumours?" Daichi asks, remembering that Suga's source had been Kenma himself.

"He wouldn't admit it when I asked him but it makes sense. Kenma suddenly wanting to visit the other fiefs as the next Lord of Nekoma?" Kuroo raises an eyebrow. "I was pretty happy when he proposed it but I should have known that he had something up his sleeve. He wanted these rumours to go far so that I wouldn't be able to do sufficient damage control this time."

"You don't want to be the Lord of Nekoma? Most people would die for a chance to rule a fief."

"I already am running it, technically," Kuroo says with a grimace. "But I don't want the title and whatnot that comes with it. I'm pretty happy where I am, lurking in the shadows, doing my own thing, pursuing my interests when they haunt my waking thoughts every single day." Kuroo looks meaningfully at him.

Daichi understands. If he hadn't been the Lord of Karasuno he would have dropped everything to go looking for Kuroo in Nekoma like how Kuroo had come back to him in Karasuno. He can't say that he isn't affected by Kuroo's words and presence because he _is_ , his heartbeat racing and his blood humming low in his veins, his hands itching to touch Kuroo again.

"You have to understand that I'm finding it very hard to let go of this dagger given your track record and who I am," Daichi murmurs.

"I understand," Kuroo says, hurt filling his amber eyes. "If it would put your mind at ease, I could leave now and we could pretend this conversation never happened."

Daichi looks at Kuroo, running his eyes over his face, features that he had memorised after removing his mask. It hadn't been his face Daichi had fallen in love with first but the intangible things Daichi has seen within him during their three nights together. Granted, three nights wasn't the longest of times to be falling in love with someone but Daichi _had_ and it might just be foolishness on his part but he wants to believe in what they had going on between them during the masquerade.

"Don't leave me again," Daichi says to Kuroo, his voice tight and controlled, trying not to sound as desperate as he feels as he lowers his dagger slowly. He keeps his eyes trained on Kuroo as he sheathes it and takes a step back.

"I'll have to leave when Kenma moves on to the next fief," Kuroo responds, breathing easier without the blade at his neck.

Daichi glares at him, his wings ruffling threateningly. "You know what I mean."

Kuroo smiles and Daichi sees a familiar spark of mischief under all the relief on his face. "I do."

Something brushes against Daichi's hip and Daichi looks down to see Kuroo's tail making a reappearance after the danger had passed, curling around Daichi's waist and pulling him in. Kuroo still has his hands raised and he lowers them slowly, watching Daichi's reaction with careful amber eyes. Daichi glances at the tail sneaking around his waist and then back at Kuroo pointedly but he makes no move to stop it, or the hand reaching for his hand.

"I missed you a lot after the masquerade ball, Sawamura." Kuroo takes Daichi's hand in his, grazing his thumb over his palm and twining his fingers with his fingers, looking pleased with himself as he meets Daichi's eyes again.

"That's your fault." Daichi tells him, tightening his grip on Kuroo's fingers. "I told you to talk to me, didn't I? Not to disappear again."

"You wanted to see me again?" Kuroo asks, his eyes alight.

"I tried looking for you," Daichi admits, colouring slightly. "But apparently you're the most elusive cat in Nekoma."

Kuroo smiles ruefully. "I don't actually exist in Nekoma. Not as Kuroo Tetsurou anyway."

"Then who are you in Nekoma?"

"Well, Kozume Tetsurou is one but no one calls me that. We're pretty open-minded but even that would be pushing it. Nekomata is another. That old cat says he wants a heir but he really just wants me to take his place in the council. Only my mother and my close friends know me as Kuroo Tetsurou. And now you." Kuroo grins at Daichi.

"You're a real enigma, aren't you?" Daichi says tartly.

"A real cat of mystery," Kuroo agrees. "But if you take the time to get to know me, I promise you it'll be worth it."

Daichi looks into Kuroo's leering face, that same smirk back in full force and his eyebrows waggling suggestively. The colour had returned to Kuroo's face after Daichi put his dagger away, his cheeks tinged a happy pink as he flirts shamelessly with Daichi. And Daichi bursts into laughter, the awful, miserable feeling that had been bogging down his chest for weeks dissipating into something light and golden. It feels a lot like love, or a prelude to love, even if Daichi never expected to find it in a cat he just happened to meet at a masquerade ball.

"I don't even know how we're going to make this work," Daichi says, shaking his head at the fond look on Kuroo's face.

"We'll figure something out," Kuroo muses, his hands dropping to bracket Daichi's hips and sliding around his back to take his tail's place. "Technically, I don't exist in Nekoma so I'm sure they won't mind me running off to spend time with my lover once in a while. We'll communicate using a set of very complicated bird calls only we know and you'll leave your window open for me to climb in at midnight."

"And just how do you think you're going to scale metres of stone in the middle of the night in a foreign fief?" Daichi asks, a grin already breaking out on his face.

"I won't have to," Kuroo says confidently and his fingers dance up the length of Daichi's wings. "My lover has a set of very beautiful and very strong wings. Remember, I accept all future offers with ready enthusiasm."

"I'll think about it." Daichi leans into Kuroo, his hands finding their way into Kuroo's hair and passing over Kuroo's ears with deliberate care just so that Daichi can feel him purr against him, the sound coming from a warm place deep in his chest. "In the meantime, you better figure out a way to fly, sir cat."

\---

The day of the cats' departure arrives too soon and Daichi sees them off at the front gate with a whole group of crows surrounding him, looking solemn with their black wings and long faces. The cats had only stayed for a short while but it had been enough for them to form, or rediscover, lasting friendships with many of the crows.

Daichi had talked to Yaku and Kai about sending a group of crows over to Nekoma for a short visit and they had promised to make arrangements on their side and send word once they were back at Nekoma. Kenma and his entourage were to travel the kingdom for a few weeks more before returning to Nekoma and Daichi doesn't envy Kuroo's job of tamping down on the rumours spreading through the different fiefs they stop at. It is a pity that Kenma doesn't want to be the next lord because Daichi thinks that Kenma would be immensely well-suited to it with the proper support.

Kuroo isn't among the cats gathered by the front gate and Daichi bites down on a rueful smile. He probably left at an odd hour in the morning to avoid being seen, ever the secretive cat. But he had come to see Daichi the night before he left, kissing him so soundly into the wall that Daichi still feels him against his lips.

Even after everything they had talked out, Daichi still doesn't know how much of Kuroo he will be able to see after he leaves. The distance between Karasuno and Nekoma is neither too long nor too short but Kuroo has his responsibilities to his lord and Daichi has his responsibilities to his fief. They will have to meet in the middle, during social events at other fiefs, dancing at parties and blending in with the crowd, sneaking off to balconies or gardens or each other's rooms for privacy. They will make it work.

A bird calls or cries or squawks in the distance and every head in the vicinity turns in its direction, startled. It doesn't sound like any recognisable species but it does sound like it is in agony and Daichi has to turn his face away, biting the inside of his mouth to stop himself from laughing, hurriedly trying to compose himself before anyone looks back.

He had told Kuroo that his bird calls were awful but Kuroo had said they were perfectly useable. Given that he had drawn the attention of everyone within earshot, Daichi is going to make Kuroo reconsider his definition of useable the next time they meet. If everything went well on Nekoma's side, Daichi would see him in the summer when the cats were back in their fief and ready to receive the crows.

He can't wait to dance with him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand we've come to the end of the fic! Thank you so much to everyone who's made it this far with me, who commented and left kudos and kept me going!
> 
> This is the first multichaptered fic I've worked on that I've properly completed so that's an achievement unlocked for me and it's also the longest fic I have here so that's another achievement unlocked. I know 20k doesn't seem like a lot (and it isn't compared to all the great fics out there) but I'll work on writing more and gradually increasing my word count bit by bit. Baby steps.
> 
> I'm pretty fond of this au and I think there's still some stuff left that could be explored so if the winds blow right I might write more in the future?? We'll see.
> 
> I'll also be putting up a few deleted scenes, or rather deleted lines, and the playlist that's been keeping me going through this fic in the next chapter sometime soon so if you would like to see those do stick around for a bit more.
> 
> Find me here: [tumblr](http://kythen.tumblr.com) / [twitter](http://twitter.com/catcrowcalls)


	5. Deleted Scenes and Fic Playlist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short compilation of deleted scenes and the playlist which accompanied me through the writing of this fic.

**Chapter 1**

"I'm not very good at this," Daichi mutters.

"Relax. You're doing fine," Kuroo assures him.

"You say that now but wait until I step on your feet or something."

"I have faith in—" Kuroo breaks off in a hiss.

"Sorry," Daichi mumbles. "And I told you."

"God, how do you fly, man?"

Daichi stamps down on Kuroo's foot and Kuroo dodges away with a, "Watch it, darling, you might actually break something."

"That was what I was hoping for."

"If you break my foot, I won't be able to dance with you."

"Are you offering up other parts of your body then?" Daichi asks, amused.

Kuroo presses in close, his breath warm against Daichi's ear. "Only if you're offering first."

Daichi flushes and Kuroo pulls back, a smirk clearly visible beneath his mask.

\---

"What do you mean you don't really dance?" the silver-haired crow says to him. "What did we spend all those days cooped up in that musty old practice room for if not to be able to dance? I know you and beardy were born with two left feet but I'm sure you can manage to dance with one nice gentleman who's offering."

The crow makes a face at him.

**Chapter 3**

"I changed my bet last night, and looking at you today I think I'm right."

"To what? How many scenarios are there in this betting pool anyway?"

"You're in love," Yaku says, "not only with his body, but probably also something mushy like his heart."

"It is a hot body," Kuroo agrees, remembering the feel of it under his hands, "and I bet he has a fine face to match under that mask."

"And are you in love?"

"Yaku, you can't just ask the person you're betting on these things," Kuroo gasps. "It's cheating."

Yaku raises an eyebrow at him.

Kuroo slumps, hiding his face in his hands. "I'm doomed."

"Thought so," Yaku says smugly. "You're never this attached to anyone during parties. It's usually one on the first night and another the next."

\---

"So basically, it's up to me to make a choice then?"

"You're a grown man, Kuroo. An intelligent one." Yaku pauses. "And you can also help me win the betting pool now that you know my bet."

"He might not even want to see me tonight."

"And why is that?"

"I kind of... left in the middle of something."

Yaku stares. "You just keep piling on those bad decisions, do you? I might have to change my bet. He's going to fight you in the ballroom. My god, the first set of people were right."

\---

" _Wow,_ " Kuroo breathes.

"I'm pretty sure that the cat I was with during the last two nights was more eloquent than this."

"Okay, but it's hard to be eloquent in my position or given _your_ position—"

"Just get _on_ with it."

\---

Sawamura scratches behind his ears and Kuroo purrs, letting his instincts overwhelm him before he realises that Sawamura is snickering at him, his lips curved upwards in a fond smile as Kuroo goes completely boneless in his arms.

"My one weakness," Kuroo says between purrs, stretching himself out lazily and surrendering himself to Sawamura.

"I'll keep it a secret for you," Sawamura promises.

* * *

  **Playlist**

[Jeris - Mystery](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ta4mVYIKvU)

[Florence + the Machine - Cosmic Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EIeUlvHAiM)

[Florence + the Machine - Shake It Out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs)

[Sleeping At Last - Southern](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYglh3wthcM)

[Sleeping At Last - Indian](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7odYSkYKBLw)

[BTS - House of Cards](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwYxlcszZAI)

[Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel (LidoLido Remix)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EHiNh814I4)

[Florence + the Machine - Too Much Is Never Enough](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD6sTDH9Zdc)

**Author's Note:**

> Find me here: [tumblr](http://kythen.tumblr.com) / [twitter](http://twitter.com/catcrowcalls)


End file.
